I Kissed a Boy
by rainlady
Summary: A bored looking-to-cause-trouble Gilbert kisses would-be-frat boy Alfred at club causing a chain reaction of chaos. (College AU) (Prussia/America)
1. I Kissed a Boy (Part 1)

I Kissed a Boy (1/?)

Pairings: Gilbert/Alfred (there will probably be others though I haven't fully figured out what they're going to be but this is the main pairing everything else will either be implied or be a lesser side pairings.)

Overall Fic Trigger Warnings: Rough language, violence and sexual assault/rape. (The later will be implied/mentioned but not actually appear in print.)

Chapter Fic Trigger Warnings: Violence and some mild sexual assault (forcing kisses on people who definitely do NOT want them).

Notes:

-This is a college AU so if that's not your thing I suggest you turn around now.

-This fic is inspired by the song "I Kissed a Boy" by Cobra Starship which is a cover version of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl"

-The Trio are kind of dicks at the start of this fic. Gilbert in particular is in a not very good place and acts like it. I promise it's all part of his journey though.

-Since this is AU please assume that everyone in this fic is American unless other wise noted. They will still keep their canon personalities and such but I really don't want to sit down and try to figure out while all these people from different countries just happen to be attending the same university.

* * *

The three motorcycles could be heard long before they arrived. After they came to a roaring stop their riders put down their kickstands and took off their helmets almost completely in sync. One was dark, one was fair and one was pale. His red eyes glinted mischievously as he took in the bar in front of him. It was their third bar of the evening and looked to be the most promising. The line outside was long and and the music was pumping.

"This one's going to be fun," Antonio said with a grin.

"Hopefully there's actually a more good natured mark inside this one," Francis said with a little less excitement. He was sporting a split lip and a readily darkening eyes from the last bar they had checked out. The mark he'd taken on had been less then pleased and while it had been an over all entertaining encounter his face didn't think it was nearly so much fun.

"Come on you big baby," Gilbert said throwing his arm around Francis and pulling him towards the door. "You can sit this one out if you're worried about further damaging your precious mug."

"Unless he's really hot," Francis muttered. "We haven't had a really hot one in a while."

Gilbert made a soft agreeing noise. The pickings had been slim the last few weekends. The Frats in the surrounding schools were definitely loosing their touch when it came to recruiting lately. He lowered his arm and as a unit they strolled leisurely past the line waiting to get past the door. They received calls of irritation and anger from the boys and hungry looks from the girls. Antonio winked at one chesty blond and probably would have gone to chat her up if Gilbert hadn't reached out and tugged his shirt to stop him. Unfortunately for the lovely lady and her impressive rack her kind wasn't on the menu tonight.

Antonio did a sad faced bow which caused Francis to snort and Gilbert to roll his eyes heaven ward. These two always had his back and were always willing to go out and have some fun but sometimes they were more trouble then they worth. They came back into one strong entity as they were stopped by the bouncer who pinned them with an irritated glare of his own.

"Not tonight you three," he growled at them. "It's been crazy in there enough tonight without throwing you into the mix."

The three exchanged triumphant glances at each other. They definitely liked the sound of that. Francis raised his eyebrow in Gilbert's direction and Gilbert nodded back. Francis pulled out two crisp hundred dollar bills and passed them discretely towards the bouncer who instantly seemed to have a change of heart as the money touched his hand. He lifted the rope and nodded them through to a chorus of angry noises from the rest of the collected crowd.

Gilbert smirked, Antonio threw a salute and Francis blew them all a saucy kiss. As he passed the bouncer he was stopped short by a thick, meaty hand on the back of the shirt. The bouncer blew his horrible breath against his ear in a lame attempt at being threatening.

"I'm warning you Beilschmidt, If you get caught in there you don't know me and I don't know any of you."

Gilbert snorted and rolled his eyes. "Like I would ever admit to knowing the likes of you," he drawled back.

The bouncer's hand connected with his back and he was pushed the hard way through the doors. He coughed and took a moment to catch his breath making a mental note to never piss that guy off at least when he was by himself. Then he glanced up and smirked as he took in the milling crowd of the room. It was covered wall to wall by healthy young specimens.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot boys," Antonio said with a wave of his hand.

"Looks like," Gilbert said with a nod. "Let's do a circle of the room and then choose our mark. We don't want to make the same mistake we did at the last place. Francis' poor face couldn't handle another round of that."

Antonio snorted and smacked Francis on the back who glared at them. "I'm going to need a drink if I'm going to have to put up with the peanut gallery for the rest of the evening."

"A drink always sounds good," Gilbert agreed with a nod. "We'll have the best view of the room from there anyway."

They moved through the crowd. It parted easily for them as if sensing their superiority. There were no open stools at the bar but that didn't last long when they were faced with the strength of Antonio's puppy dog eyes, Gilbert's strength and Francis' messed up face. The three patrons moved on to better pastures. The bartender took one look at them and asked for their IDS. They handed them over easily. Only one of them was actually of legal age but they was no fear that their fake IDS would be caught. They were rock solid and had gotten them past many an eagle eye including a few cops.

Disgruntled the bartender handed them back and took their order. His anger and distrust seemed to evaporate when Gilbert asked for the best German beer they had in stock and Francis repeated the process asking for a glass of the most expensive red wine they had. Antonio kind of ruined the coolness factor by insisting on ordering a glass of sherry but they would be getting no more trouble from the bartender that evening. Drinks in hand and completely confident and at ease they turned on their stools, leaned against the bar and surveyed the room.

"By the pool table," Francis said rolling this hand lazily in that direction. "The mother lode."

Gilbert turned in that direction a wide toothy grin splitting his face open as he took in the sight. There they were the biggest, so called baddest frat on campus. They were holding court at the table and were chasing off anyone who so much as looked in its direction.

"Is that..." Gilbert said nodding at the tallest member of the group.

"Their illustrious president, so-called Big Man on Campus, and biggest all around jackass on the planet; Percy Green," Antonio supplied with a drawl.

"Now boys," Francis interjected quickly. "I understand the temptation but he is far too big a fish to fry even for us. Try for something a little further down the food chain. A lot less satisfying I know but a lot more likely to be successful. And remember how these Fratties work. You piss off one you piss off them all."

Gilbert huffed slightly but he knew Francis was telling the truth. He had a personal vendetta against ol' Percy but it would have to wait. This was neither the time or place to deal with that. But he would get his revenge eventually. Oh yes he would.

"Ooh baby," Spain chirped cheerfully. "They've got the Fresh Meat out with them tonight!"

That caught Gilbert's attention. He swiveled around on his stool and took in the sight. The pledges were dressed as they always were for these occasion. In tight tank tops, booty shorts, flip flops, and colorful bunny ears and tails. He snorted and turned back to his drink downing the rest of it in one go and motioned for a refill.

"Ooh..." Spain continued gleefully. "There's a nice Freshie, let's choose that one!"

"Come on guys," Gilbert snapped out through gritted teeth as he turned around. "We've talked about this Freshies are never on the men..."

He stopped short when he caught sight of who Antonio was pointing to. He felt himself tighten slightly at the sight of the kid panting and struggling to keep up with the orders he was being given left and right. He watched as the kid passed by Percy and earned a hard smack on the ass for getting in the older student's way. He didn't even have to think twice before the next words were out of his mouth.

"He's mine," he said downing the second beer in two gulps and sliding off the chair.

"Ah yes," Francis drawled throwing a hand around Gilbert's shoulder. "He is rather your type isn't he?"

Gilbert gave the pledge another once over as he shrugged Francis' arm off from his shoulder. Messy blond hair, glasses, flushed cheeks, a bit of pudge around the middle and legs that went on for days. Yeah this one was definitely Gilbert's type.

"But what about the rule, Gil," Antonio drawled playfully throwing his own arm around Gilbert's shoulder. "The one about the Freshies never being on the menu?"

Gilbert grunted at him and threw that arm off as well. This was wrong and he was playing a dangerous game but he couldn't resist the siren call of the boy in front of him.

"I'll be back in a few," he said. "Be ready to run out of here because it's going to be one hell of a show when I'm through."

"Don't you want backup?" Francis asked turning serious. "There's an awful lot of them."

"I'll be fine," Gilbert reassured them. "I've dealt with it all before. Besides you all being there will just draw suspicion and spook the Freshie."

"You're call Gil," Antonio answered. "But we'll be on stand by if it's needed."

Gilbert nodded. He paused to take a swallow of Francis' wine. For once Francis didn't argue. He'd probably just be ordering another when Gilbert left. He ran his hand through his hair and unbuttoned another button on his shirt. Then he headed off towards the pool table.

If he had known then chain of events that he was setting in motion he might have stopped dead in his tracks and turned and left the bar altogether.

Then again he probably would have just kept on walking forward.

TBC


	2. I Kissed a Boy (Part 2)

I Kissed a Boy (Part 2)

Chapter Fic Trigger Warnings: Violence and language.

Notes:

-I should probably feel a little guilty going with the cliched "Evil Fraternity" route in a college AU with this fic but I really don't. Sorry if that offends anyone it's not a statement on all fraternities or sororities it's just for purposes of plot.

-I apologize in advance for any instances where I accidentally slip and use country names. I'm still getting back into the writing flow and I tend to default to country names so while I've tried very hard to weed them out some might still have slipped through.

See part one for more notes & warnings.

* * *

Gilbert shoved his hands into his jacket pocket and strolled casually up to the group. He was in the middle of them before they had even registered his presence. He grabbed one of the pool balls from the table messing up the show Percy was about to make. He smirked widely and tossed the ball around in the air.

"Beilschmidt," Percy growled out. "What the hell do you want?"

"Don't worry Percival ol' pal," Gilbert drawled. He tossed the ball in Percy's direction enjoying the way Percy struggled to try and catch it before it dropped to the ground. "I'm not here for you."

While they were all distracted with trying to pick it up he snagged the back of the pledge's shirt hauled him around and looked him directly in the eye. Up close the kid was even more of a looker close up. Though he was mostly still all baby fat you could see the shape of the adult he would become once he finished going through his awkward adolescent phase.

"Hiya, kiddo," he said with a smirk.

"Ah...hi..." the pledge answered back hesitantly sending a nervous gaze shifting towards the group still fumbling for the dropped ball trying to impress Percy who was yelling angrily at all of them.

Gilbert smirk widened. If he didn't already know exactly how it worked he would have wondered how on earth they could have possibly snuck this one past the bouncer outside. There was no way he could pass for anything other then being at most newly turned 18. He looked sweaty and nervous and way out of his depth. And now he was about to be pulled completely under. Gilbert almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

"You certainly are a cute one," Gilbert said with a wink.

It was the only warning he gave the kid before grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him down slightly and planting a wet sloppy kiss on the lips. As soon as their lips met it became clear to Gilbert that the kid wasn't the only one about to go completely under. The kid's lips were soft and full and so sweet that Gilbert couldn't help but change tactics from being over the top sloppy to a serious exploration of them. The kid squeaked in surprise at the start and stood stock still. Gilbert waited for the anger to break through the shock even while he was enjoying the pledge's lips he was getting ready to duck. But the kid didn't hit him instead his shoulders sagged slightly and he slid into the kiss almost eagerly. Gilbert didn't question it he just rode it out until he broke away to allow them to both get some air.

He watched the other student slowly blink his bright blue eyes open. They were bleary with confusion and a healthy dose of interest linger inside, his glasses had fogged up and were sitting at a slight angle off his nose looking precariously close to sliding off. Without thinking Gilbert reached up and slid them back into their correct position letting his fingers drift across the softness of a cheek as he lowered his hand down. The kid continued to stare at him in confused silence.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Beilschmidt!"

It was only after it was broken did Gilbert realize that the room around them and gone completely still and silent. All eyes were on them. Including Percy who looked so angry that if he had been a cartoon character he'd probably have steam coming out of his ears. His dagger like eyes slid past Gilbert and landing on the kid who was rubbing the back of his head practically stun locked in his state of confusion.

"Jones!" Percy barked at him. "Get your plump ass over here now!"

The kid jumped in surprise. The surprise turned to worry and maybe a little fear as he took a hesitant step forward. Gilbert stepped in front of him stopping his movement and shielding him from the angry glare of Percy.

"Hey now Percival," he said brightly. "Don't take your anger with me out on the Freshie here. The show was all for you after all...""

Then he leaned forward and flicked his fingers against Percy's nose. Percy looked shocked and then enraged as he launched himself at Gilbert. Gilbert ducked out of the way and then turned to look back towards the still shell shocked pledge.

"Sorry to kiss and run but...thanks for the memories kiddo!"

Then with a laugh he rushed around the boy and raced back across the room towards the bar.

"Get him!" Percy's voice called out.

Soon the majority of the frat boys in the group were after him. He reconnected with Francis and Antonio and together they led the group on a merry chase until they finally managed to escape through the employees entrance. Before he left Gilbert turned to look back in the room. He watched as Percy clamped a hand down on the pledge's shoulder and yanked him out of view yelling at him the whole way. Gilbert felt trail of guilt spin through him but didn't let him stop him from making his escape.

They rushed around front and hopped on their bikes. Gilbert pointed towards a side street wanting to stay out of the way of any possible frat boys that might still be looking for them. The side street turned out to be a dead end that connected with the alley that ran behind the bar. Gilbert gestured to it. It was a risk but it was a lot less of one the turning around and going back around front. As they neared the bar Gilbert's headset cracked to life.

"Looks like trouble," Antonio's voice came over the set.

Gilbert's eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the ground standing near the back service entrance. Percy was standing tall in the light. He was surrounded by his minions who were punching and kicking at something on the ground at their feet. Gilbert felt a sense of dread as they pulled to a stop. The group was so busy with what they were doing they didn't seem to care about anything else and didn't notice that they had pulled up.

"I didn't do anything," the pledge yelled when he was allowed enough time to get the air to do so.

He kept attempting to struggle to his feet while blocking his head with his arms and kicking out with his legs to get in a few blows of his own. It wasn't the best tactic but it was probably keeping him from getting hurt worse then he was. It was a loosing battle but Gilbert admired the fighting spirit. That spirit might get him through this situation in one piece.

"You betrayed us, Jones," Percy said crouching down next to him and grabbing a fistful of hair and yanking the pledge's face up. Gilbert could see the glint of blood on the boy's face. "We invited you to join us, to join our family and you lied to us about what you are."

"I didn't lie about anything!" Jones insisted. "I didn't."

"You're one of them," Jones continued. "You're a gay boy...a fag...we don't like your kind..."

"Gilbert we have to help him," Francis' voice echoed tightly in Gilbert's helmet.

He shook his head to stop them from getting off their bikes. "No," he said firmly. "We can't"

"This is our fault," Antonio countered.

"We can't," Gilbert repeated sharply. There was heavy truth in Antonio's statement. It was his fault that this was happening to the kid but there was nothing he could do. "If I go over there it will only make it worse for him."

"I'm not..." Jones pleaded softly. "I swear I'm not."

"Considering the little show you just put on with Beilschmidt in there I think you're lying to me Jones," Percy sliced out at him emphasizing his point by yanking up on the head of hair again.

"I don't even know who that was I swear! I've never seen him before in my life!" Jones insisted. "He just came out of no where and kissed me1"

"And you let him...and you enjoyed it...don't deny it," Percy growled. "It was written all over your face. It still is...so let me help you wipe that right off of there."

His fist slammed into the pledge's face knocking the glasses off his face. They went sailing up into the air glinting in the light and then bouncing off the ground and skidding away from the group. Gilbert gripped the handle bars of his bike as Francis let out a stream of curses into the headset.

"Gilbert!" Antonio said sharply. "We can't just sit here and watch this happen."

Still Gilbert shook his head and cut off any attempt to help the pledge. It was harsh but it really would only make things worse if they intervened.

"Please...Percy..." the pledge pleaded softly. "I'm sorry..."

That earned him another smack in the face and something whispered in his ears which caused the student to pick up his struggle to get away. Percy held him in place with a tight grip on his chin.

"Go get my car," he barked tossing his keys at one of the near by frat boys. "We'll take Jones here back to the house and teach him a proper lesson there."

Something icy and hard settled in Gilbert's stomach. He knew exactly what sort of punishment they were talking about and he wasn't about to let it happen to someone again. Not now, not ever. He powered down the motorcycle with a jerk and kicked the kickstand into place he was fighting with his helmet when Francis' voice sounded in his hear.

"Stay calm Gilbert," he said firmly.

"Calm..." Gilbert muttered as he finally managed to pull the helmet off. "You're the one that wanted to help him."

"Not with a hot head," Antonio said as he slid his own helmet off. "And not without us."

"Hurry up then," Gilbert said tightly.

He was relieved for the back up though. His friends as annoying as they could be were the rocks that had held him in place the last couple of years. Without them he didn't know where he'd be right now. Probably not here and probably no where near as sane.

They joined him on the curb and together they walked forward. He stopped a short distance from the group bent over and picked up the glasses. In the low light of the alley they looked relatively unscathed. He tucked them carefully into the inside pocket of his leather jacket and then continued walking.

"I'm disappointed in you guys," he said in a tightly tone. "What happened to that 'one for all and all for one' song and dance you pull out every rush week?"

"I was wondering when you'd show up to rescue you're little girlfriend," Percy said with a smirk.

He dropped the pledge face first to the ground. The pledge instantly tried to scramble to his feet. Gilbert was glad to see he was still with it enough it would make this whole thing a lot easier. Percy stopped the upward movement by stepping down on the pledge's back. The pledge made a pained noise but took the hint and stayed down. Percy did a slow show rubbing of his foot against his back rubbing the mud on his shoes into the formerly white tank top. Whether it was to remind the pledge who was boss or to mark his territory in front of Gilbert wasn't entirely clear but it caused Gilbert's anger level to rise up another notch. He wanted to wipe that smug smirk, any everything else, right of of Percy's face.

"You know very well that doesn't apply to your kind, Beilschmidt," Percy said with a smirk.

"Don't you mean **our** kind, Percy?" Gilbert asked sweetly blowing him a kiss.

Percy took the bait. He practically roared as he launched himself at Gilbert. Gilbert stepped easily out of the way and Percy was greeted by one of Antonio's infamous kicks to the gut. He toppled to the ground. The next second everything was chaos. Frat boys were throwing themselves at them. Antonio kept them at bay with his legs with France proving enough of a distraction to keep them all occupied. This allowed Gilbert to slip through the crowd to crouch down next to the pledge. He rested a hand gently on the younger student's back. The pledge flinched away from his touch and Gilbert raised his hand a little so it was no longer touching him but could still be felt.

"It's alright," he murmured softly. "We're going to get you out of here."

"Oh...okay," the pledge murmured it was clear from his glassy expression that he was close to passing out.

His face was a mess of blood. Gilbert couldn't tell if his nose was broken but it was starting to swell up as was one of his eyes and his lip looked split. He frowned and hoped the pledge could hold on long enough to get him away from there. For once in his life Gilbert cursed himself for not having a working car. If he had time he'd call his brother but there wasn't any so the kid was going to have to stay conscious long enough to not fall off the bike.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

"I...I can try..." the kid mumbled.

He pushed himself painfully up into a sitting position. A battered hand reached up and felt at his face. He hissed in pain and then suddenly seemed to realize what was missing.

"My glasses...where are they...I need them...can't see without them..." he said his breathing coming in short panicked bursts.

"I've got them," Gilbert reassured him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. "They're right here in my pocket."

"Oh...okay...good..." the pledge mumbled as he stumbled forward tripping on the one flip flop he still had on. "I think I'm missing a shoe."

"It's okay," Gilbert said.

He glanced around hoping to find the missing one but he couldn't find it. Probably for the best they'd be useless on the bike. He propelled the boy forward somehow Antonio and Francis kept the others distracted long enough for him to get the kid to the bikes.

"Oh you've got a motorcycle," the pledge said dazedly. "I've never been on one of these. I've been on a bicycle and a horse but never one of these before."

"Well then it's your lucky day kid," Gilbert answered.

He eased the kid down on the bike and removed the remaining flip flop and tossed it away. He was relieved when the other two arrived. They wouldn't have much time before the frat boys figured out they were now fighting themselves. Antonio opened his storage area and pulled out his extra helmet and tossed it to Gilbert who placed it as gently as he possible could over the kid's head.

"Sorry," he mumbled when the kid hissed in pain.

"They're coming Gil," Antonio called out as he started his engine.

Gilbert turned and indeed the whole frat boy army was headed their way. He shoved his own helmet on and jumped onto the bike in front of the kid and grabbed his arms and wrapped them around his waist.

"Hold on tight, Kid," he called out unsure if Antonio had turned the headset on inside the helmet. "And try not to pass out on me."

The kid's nodded response bumped against his back and then clung to him like a wet noodle. Gilbert started his bike, revved his engine and then took off. They all made it away before the frat boys made it to the curb.

"You're going to pay for this, Beilschmidt," Percy called out after them. "You and your little boy toy too!"

"Sounds like someone's watched too much Wizard of Oz over the years," Francis snarked through the head set.

Gilbert snorted but didn't answer as the other two traded barbs about the group they just left. He was too worried about the kid on the bike behind him. He shook his head and concentrated on the grip around his waist to make sure it stayed strong and the roads they were traveling on.

Anything to keep the guilt at bay for a little while longer.

* * *

TBC

Note: I am going to be moving this upcoming week so I don't know when I'll get a chance to sit down and work on Part 3 but I do hope I will get some time and maybe have it out next weekend.


	3. I Kissed a Boy (Part 3)

I Kissed a Boy (Part 3)

Chapter Warnings: Language

For More Warning See Part 1

* * *

They pulled up to a small park and shut the bikes off. They were half way across town from the club and only a few blocks away from the school. Gilbert took his helmet off and scanned the park. There didn't seem anyone around which was exactly what he had been hoping for. He slid off of the bike and turned around to face his passenger. He carefully removed the helmet and helped the dazed pledge off the back of the bike and led him to a bench careful to keep away from any rocks or anything else that might hurt the kid's bare feet. The pledge moaned as he settled down on the bench.

"My glasses?" he asked in a hushed hurried tone that seemed to be verging on panic.

Gilbert reached into his pocket and pulled them out and set them onto the pledge's face carefully avoiding the most swollen places as much as he could. The kid's face was a mess but thankfully the glasses did seem to have avoided any major damage.

"Thank you," the pledge mumbled sounding instantly more relieved. He rubbed at his cheek with a wince and slowly opened forced his eyes open. "You..." he stopped short when he saw Gilbert. Gilbert knew the instant that he registered just who was crouched in front of him because his expression turned dark and his voice angry. "You!" he repeated his hands twisting into fists.

Gilbert shot to his feet as he sensed the change in mood but he wasn't quick enough to get out of the way before the kid launched himself in his direction. They both stumbled backwards the momentum driving them towards the ground. With as much strength as he could muster Gilbert twisted his body hoping to use the new momentum to alter their direction towards a grassy patch of earth beside the path they were on. It worked but just barely. He let out a pained noise as his back connected with the ground but he managed to keep his head from connecting. The kid didn't stop moving his anger clearly boiling over as he lashed out at Gilbert with punches and smacks. It probably would have been more effective if the kid wasn't in quite so much of a daze. Gilbert reached out and snagged the hands and squeezed to stop the boy from hurting himself further. The kid struggled against the hold and made a pained noise that reminded Gilbert of a wounded animal.

"This is your fault!" the kid yelled at him. "This is all your fault!"

"It is," Gilbert agreed softly, over the kid's shoulder he saw the other two approaching them. "And I am sorry for it."

"Sorry...you're sorry..." the kid said with a hiss. "If you hadn't kissed me..."

The pledge cried out in a mix of fear, anger and pain as he was interrupted when Francis slid his arms under his arm pits and dragged him upwards off of Gilbert. The kid instantly began struggling like he was fighting for his life. His movement aggravated his injuries and his face began bleeding again.

"Careful!" Gilbert snapped at Francis as he pulled himself to his feet.

"I'm...trying..." Francis said through gritted teeth.

The pledge managed to get himself loose long enough to land punch in Francis in the face. It landed exactly in the spot that was already messed up from earlier in the evening. Francis doubled over in pain and it allowed the boy to drop to the ground. He sat still for a moment and then began digging frantically into the tiny pockets of his tiny shorts. He pulled out a phone from somewhere and began to poke at it in desperation.

"God dammit, why is it always my face!" Francis moaned in frustration as he clutched at his cheek.

Gilbert snorted and walked slowly towards the pledge on the ground. Gilbert could see that the screen was shattered. He made a mental note to look into getting it replaced. The pledge seemed to manage to get it working and lifted it up to his ear and waited.

"Mattie pick up, Mattie pick up, Mattie pick up," he muttered over and over as he dialed, waited, shut the phone off and repeated the process a few time. "Where the hell are you Mattie."

He flinched as Gilbert stepped up by him glaring up at him darkly but he made no move to attack again. Instead he pulled himself painfully up to his feet and started walking away from them with a slow measured pace. Then he stopped and looked around himself and then turned back to them with a glare.

"Which way is it to the school?" he bit out thought it was clear he didn't want to ask any of them for help.

"You need to go to the hospital," Gilbert said simply.

"No...I need to go back to my dorm!" the kid snapped at him.

"At least let us take you to the all night clinic in the student center," Francis said in as much of a patient tone as he could muster while he was still rubbing his cheek.

"No...the dorms..." the kid insisted frantically.

"No...you are getting medical attention and that's final," Gilbert said with a note of finality.

The kid just glared at him and then turned and eyed the surrounding buildings and began hobbling off in the direction he deemed to be the school. Gilbert was impressed that he was right. He was also angry that he wasn't being listened to.

"Hey now, Jones," he said trying out the name he'd heard the frats use for the kid. "You're not going anywhere except the hospital or the clinic."

When the kid didn't stop he rushed forward and grabbed an arm. He knew it was a bad idea given how on edge the kid was but he was in no condition to be walking anywhere. The kid lashed out at him. Managing to catch him in the cheek with a flailing arm. It wasn't painful to anything but Gilbert's pride at being caught by surprise but it was enough to get Gilbert to drop the arm. The kid stumbled forward, tripped and crashed down to the ground. Gilbert stepped forward to help him but he was stopped by Antonio placing a hand on his arm and shaking his head.

"Do you have any idea what you've done!" the kid snapped at Gilbert. He was breathing heavily and seemed dangerously close to hyperventilating. "They know where my room is they're going to go back there and trash it..."

"Look," Gilbert said softly he didn't argue that the pledge's dorm would be the first place the frat boys would go and they would trash the place in their drunken rage. "I'm sorry about your stuff. I know you probably won't believe it but I have plenty of money and I can replace anything they destroy."

"It's not about the fuckin' stuff!" the pledge snapped.

"Well then." Antonio interjected with a soothing tone crouching down next to the pledge. The pledge tensed but after eying Antonio for a moment he relaxed. Gilbert smiled softly. Antonio always was the least threatening of them all which they often used to their advantage. "Whey don't you tell us what it is about..."

The kid stared down at his phone for a moment with a deepening frown. They he started to stand up again. Antonio held out a hand in an offer of assistance. The pledge tensed for a moment and then took it. "I have a twin brother." he said as he rose shakily back to his feet. "We share a dorm room. If they get there and find him..."

"Did you tell them you had a twin?" Antonio asked gently

"I did but I don't know if they actually heard me," the pledge snapped in irritation. "I have a feeling they didn't listen to anything I said to them..."

"It's doubtful they'd mistake him for you," Francis reassured said as he rubbed his cheek. "You are a bit of a mess right now."

"I don't think they're actually thinking logically at the moment," the pledge snapped. "And they might not care even if they were. They'll go after him just to get back at me."

"He's right," Gilbert said with a sigh. He rubbed at his forehead wondering how one wrong choice could lead to so much chaos. "We better get to the dorms."

The kid glared at him for a long moment. Gilbert stared passively back at him though inside he was rolling his eyes. You'd think the kid would be happy that someone was agreeing with him and that he was going to get what he wanted. Then Jones turned to Antonio.

"Can I ride with you?" he asked. "I don't think I can walk that far..."

Antonio glanced in Gilbert's direction for one hesitant moment and then wrapped his arm though the pledge's arm and helped him back towards the bikes. "Of course," he answered.

Gilbert shoved his helmet on his head and watched Antonio carefully get the kid settled. He found himself inwardly seething that the kid had snubbed him in such a fashion. It was really a stupid thing to be feeling because the kid had every right to hate him. And if the kid's brother had gotten pulled into the chaos as well Gilbert might hate himself too.

He started the engine and took off towards the school without a backwards glance. He'd asked which dorm they needed to go to when they got back onto campus. He just needed to clear his thoughts a bit and calm down before he had to deal with the next bit of chaos that appeared on the horizon.

* * *

They pulled up to the dorm the pledge had directed them too. He was off Antonio's bike and heading for the door as soon as he was able. His movement was still slow and painful but it was clear it was extremely worried. They caught up to him and Antonio resumed his role of helper. Francis stared up at the building with a smirk.

"Just like old times, eh?" he said.

Gilbert huffed and ignored him. The fact that this had been their dorm their freshman years was not that big of a surprise. There were only two male dorms on campus and one co-ed one. So the law of averages was on their side that the pledge would have landed in their old stomping grounds. Still with the memories that were threatening to surface he wanted to get in and out of the building as fast as possible. He stepped around the two walking slowly in front of them and went up the stairs to the third floor and headed towards the room number that he'd heard Jones give Antonio. He felt Francis at his back. His goal was to get there and check out the room before the slower two had gotten up there. To make sure it was clear and to check that there wasn't something inside that might set the boy off quickly.

They passed the resident adviser's room for the floor as they passed down the hallway towards the room. Gilbert couldn't help but snort at the name on the door and pointed it out to Francis who snorted in response as well.

"I can't believe he's still here in the dorms," Francis said with a chuckle.

"You know how he is," Gilbert said with a shake of his head. "Always up for a power trip. RA is the perfect role for him."

They grew quiet as they came up to the room number they'd been given. Gilbert could see the door was slightly ajar. Just enough to make it clear that something was off. He held up his hand and then carefully pushed the door open and peered inside. He didn't see anyone in the parts of the room that he could see but that didn't mean they weren't there waiting to jump the first person that stepped inside the room. Francis held him back and then stepped around him and pushed open the double room's tiny bathroom door (Gilbert wondered idly how the freshie had been lucky enough to get a room with a bathroom in it when they usually went to the older students) and looked inside lifting his hand to indicate that it was clear. Then together they stepped into the room.

It had been destroyed. Everything was turned inside out and pulled apart. There was broken glass from the windows, books torn apart, posters shredded, knickknacks broken and what looked like it had once been a stuffed bear was laying limp on one of the beds it's stuffing spread out around it. It was a disaster. Francis frowned as he checked the small closet and then looked around with a shake of his head.

"Bastards," Francis muttered.

Gilbert stepped forward when something crunched under his boots. He looked down and spotted a broken picture frame. He bent over to pick it up and to carefully remove the picture from inside the broken glass. It was a picture of Jones and a second guy who looked almost exactly like him except that his hair was a bit longer and more wavy. They had their arms around each other and were doing cheesy hand signs toward the camera. The pledge looked so happy and carefree in the picture. Gilbert wondered if he would ever be that way again.

"There's no one here," Francis said interrupting his thoughts.

"I don't see any blood," Gilbert said looking around the room closely. "Also this room has been destroyed but it's a meticulous destruction...doesn't seem like there's been a struggle."

"So you think the kid's brother wasn't here when they came through?" Francis asked.

"I don't think so unless they caught him by surprise and were really clean about grabbing him, Gilbert answered.

"Really not their style," Francis said with a nod.

"Oh my god..."

Gilbert turned to look at the pledge who had finally made it to the room. He watched the kid take in the disaster around him. His face crumpled and he looked close to loosing it. Then he blinked and rushed into the room Gilbert shot an arm out to prevent him from entering. The kid's feet were bare and the room was covered in broken glass. The kid glared at him but must have finally taken note of what was littered on the ground because he slowed his movement as he ducked under Gilbert's arm and peered into the room but went no further then the safe zone he was still in.

"Mattie!" he cried out sharply. He pulled open the closet doors and stumbled to look under the beds even though there was no room for anyone to be hiding. "Are you in here Mattie?"

"There's no one here," Francis said softly coming closer to them with his hands up. "We don't think that he was here when they came through and did this."

"You think?" the Jones said sharply. "But you don't know for sure..."

"We are almost certain," Francis reassured him. "There is no sign that there was a struggle here...no blood..."

"Oh god..." the pledge moaned softly and pulled out his phone again and punched something into it and held it up to his ear. "Please pick up Mattie..."

They exchanged glances. Gilbert flicked the picture against his other hand drawing the pledge's attention. He reached over and snagged the photo from Gilbert.

"Hey that's not yours!" he said sharply and clutched it to his chest.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and shoved them into his pockets. He turned away from the frantic pledge and glanced around the room trying to distract himself from the guilt that kept threatening to bubble up inside him.

"Dammit Mattie where are you!" the pledge bit out throwing the already broken phone into the wall. In it's already fragile state it shattered in one hit "Oh shit," the Jones said sharply realizing what he'd just done. "I needed that..."

"What the hell are you up to tonight Alfred?" a new voice said from near the door. "You know it's against the rules to have parties in the dorms. We've been over this a million times just because we've know each other forever doesn't mean you can get away with breaking the rules whenever you want to."

"Ah Arthur," Francis said turning to face the new person. "How I have missed the dulcet tones of your voice."

Arthur Kirkland a fellow member of their freshman class, Gilbert's former roommate, and the current RA of this floor if the name on the door was anything to go by turned a disgruntled look towards each one of them. His look got darker and more irritated with each one until it landed on Gilbert and his lip curled up in a tight smirk.

"What the hell are you three doing here?" Arthur demanded. "You don't live in this dorm anymore! You shouldn't be here causing trouble! Go throw parties at your own place!"

"Artie!" the pledge, apparently named Alfred, cried hopefully he raced around from behind Gilbert and launched himself at Arthur.

Arthur's look turned from one of annoyance to one of horror as he took in Alfred's battered face. "What the hell happened to you, Alfred?" he asked sharply.

Then Arthur caught sight of the rest of the room. He looked back and forth and then his eyes landed on Gilbert again. Gilbert steeled himself to get his head bitten off but in the next second a different sort of realization flickered across his face and he turned back to Alfred with a serious look on his face.

"Your beloved frat boys did this to you didn't they?" Arthur said darkly. "They turned on you and hurt you."

"Yes," Alfred mumbled ducking his head.

Arthur reached out and gently squeezed Alfred's shoulder. "Did they do anything...else...to you?" He glanced over the kid's shoulder at Gilbert.

"No..." Alfred said and Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. Then Alfred's head shot up and he jumped forward and grasped Arthur's shoulders and shook slightly. "Do you know where Mattie is?"

"Matthew?" Arthur asked in confusion.

"Do you know where Mattie is?" Alfred repeated frantically.

"I saw him leave with Kiku a few hours ago," Arthur said. "I think they were talking about going to some movie marathon thing that's supposed to go on all night."

Alfred's shoulders sagged and he let out a breath of relief. "Thank god," he mumbled.

"Why..." Arthur asked in confusion then he glanced around the destroyed room and realization hit. "Don't worry Alfred he's fine, perfectly safe."

The instant it was clear that his brother was safe it seemed as any strength Alfred did have left evaporated around him he sagged further against Arthur's shoulder. Arthur wrapped his arm around Alfred as best he could but it was clear the pledge was too heavy for him to support alone so Antonio stepped around to the other side and helped support him.

"Come on, Alfred," Arthur said softly. "Let's take you back to my room and we'll get you cleaned up and see if you need to go to the clinic...or the hospital..."

Alfred whined softly and Gilbert could clearly make out a mumbled 'no hospital' amongst the whining. He heard Arthur arguing softly back with Antonio chiming in with his own two cents before they disappeared out of hearing range. Gilbert removed his hands from his pocket and slumped his shoulders slightly as he observed the room around him. After a few seconds Francis' hand came down on his shoulder.

"Gilbert..." he said softly.

|Don't," Gilbert said simply. "Not right now."

Then he walked forward into the room and pulled open one of the closets. He didn't know which clothes belonged to which twin but he suspected for the moment it didn't matter. He knew his own brother would never worry about Gilbert wearing his clothing at a time like this and there was no way that this twin was anywhere near as annoying as Ludwig was about his stuff. He grabbed a t-shirt from a hanger that the frat boys had missed pulling off and then moved to the clothing that had been tossed out of the dressers and found a pair of jeans. He hesitated at the underwear but after a moment grabbed one pair and a pair of white socks. When he turned around Francis was holding a pair of white tattered sneakers.

Gilbert nodded in his direction and Francis turned and left the room. Gilbert followed taking a moment to snag a blue USA hooded sweatshirt from the ground. Then he hurried forward out the door and down the hall.

He prayed that this disaster was almost over. Unfortunately he was absolutely sure this mess was only just beginning.

* * *

TBC


	4. I Kissed a Boy (Part 4)

I Kissed a Boy (4/?)

Chapter Warnings: Language

* * *

They reached Arthur's room in time to hear Alfred let out a string of rather inventive curses. Arthur had him sitting on the desk chair while he himself sat on the bed with a wet rag in his hand rubbing it against Alfred's face in a mostly gentle manner. Not gentle enough given the way that Alfred was swearing like a drunken sailor on shore leave. Arthur sighed and glared at him.

"Would you shut up already," he snapped as he waited for Alfred to stop moving about. "You're not making this any easier you know."

"You're not trying very hard to be gentle," Alfred muttered at him.

"It wouldn't be so bad if you would stop moving about so much," Arthur threw back. "And I taught you the majority of those curses you might want to refrain from throwing them back in my face. It's intolerably rude."

Alfred huffed and slumped in the chair. Now that he was still the cleaning process took a lot less effort. After a few moments Arthur had most of the blood cleaned up and he set the rag to the side and began carefully checking over the face in front of him.

Gilbert watched passively. There was a strange easiest between the two that he wondered about. It was almost familial in nature. He could easily replace these two with himself and his own brother and have much the same type of conversation. These two didn't look related however and while Gilbert knew that Arthur had siblings he thought they were all older him except one younger brother that would still be too young to be in college. So what was Alfred to him that seeing him in this condition brought down almost all the defenses that the prickly Arthur had up all the time.

There was an obvious answer one that caused Gilbert's hackles to rise just a little bit. But that didn't seem the right answer either. There was no way these two were dating or even interested in each other. There was not a drop of romantic interest in either of them towards the other. It was a mystery.

A mystery that he didn't need to answer. It didn't concern him and he wanted to be done with this whole mess as soon as possible.

Gilbert shook his head and dumped the clothing on the bed next to Alfred. Alfred jumped slightly at the sudden movement and then glared darkly at Gilbert for a long moment before picking through the clothing.

"That's Mattie's shirt," he mumbled after a long moment. "It's got a hockey logo on it."

Gilbert just stared him down and shrugged his shoulders. What did he care what was on it or who it belonged to? It was clean and not tiny and tight or torn. Alfred met his stare head on. Now that he was in a more comfortable environment he seemed more up to the task of trying to be intimidating back. He didn't quite pull it off but Gilbert admired the effort.

"I don't think your nose is broken," Arthur announced to break the tension. "You should get stitches on that lip though. And you should go get yourself checked out for a concussion."

"No," Alfred said starting to stand up. "I've been through it all before I know how to check myself out for that."

"Sit down," Arthur snapped. "I'm not done cleaning you up yet."

"The rest of me isn't bad just cuts and scrapes," Alfred insisted quietly.

"Sit...down..." Arthur said tightly. "Or I will call home and tell your mother what happened."

Alfred narrowed his eyes at Arthur but sat back down with a huff. He let Arthur do his thing. Arthur worked in silence for a while but couldn't seem to contain himself for very long.

"This is the outfit they gave you to wear and you thought it was a good idea to go out with them?" Arthur said through clenched teeth. "You're practically in your underwear. This was an accident waiting to happen..."

"I can take care of myself!" Alfred said with a huff and pushed Arthur's hands away. Then he stood and grabbed the clothing and stalked off towards Arthur's tiny bathroom.

Arthur sighed softly. Gilbert wanted nothing more then to lash into his for some of the things he'd said to the kid but he held his tongue even as Francis put a calming hand on his shoulder. This was not his fight. The kid clearly didn't want his help and it was also clear that Arthur was extremely upset and probably didn't mean the things he had said. It didn't make it better but he would probably apologize for them once they had both calmed down. Arthur turned his frustration onto Gilbert pinning him with a cold steely glare.

"I'm guessing I have you to blame for all of this," he said with a sneer.

"At your service," Gilbert drawled and did a mock bow.

"Were you out on one of your prowls?" Arthur accused and Gilbert wished once again that they had never made the mistake of bringing Arthur along for one of the hunts. Arthur had been furious and made sure to let them know it even now a whole year later. "Did you set your sights on him and use him for your games? In front of those assholes?"

"It was just in good fun," Gilbert said and the words tasted sour on his lips. "I didn't mean any harm by it. I didn't think..."

"Of course you didn't think," Arthur spat at him. "You NEVER think. Even though you should know better then most why it was an awful idea to target him for your fun and games in front of them..."

"I apologized to him," Gilbert said stiffly crossing his arms across his chest.

"Oh good," Arthur said with a sarcastic bite. "You apologized to him. That makes it all better..."

Gilbert opened his mouth to snap a retort back at him but the door to the bathroom slammed open and revealed Alfred glaring at them both.

"Stop talking about me!" he snapped crossing over to the bed and sitting down to put the shoes on.

Gilbert couldn't help but notice how good he looked wearing red that was not his own blood.

"Unfortunately we cannot stop talking about you," Arthur said moving around him to empty the contents of the bowl he was using to clean up Alfred's wounds with out in the bathroom. "We need to figure out what to do with you tonight."

"What to do with me?" Alfred squawked in indignation. "You make it sound like I'm some puppy who hasn't been potty trained yet that you need to dump off on someone so you can go out of town."

Arthur opened his mouth to say something and then seemed to wisely reconsider it and closed it again long enough to take a deep calming breath. "We need to find you some place safe to stay this weekend."

"I don't need anywhere to stay," Alfred said crossing his arms across his chest. "I'll stay in my room."

"You can't," Arthur said with a shake of his head. "The room is a disaster and there's broken glass everywhere. Besides they might come back for another round...they probably will come back for another round."

Alfred shuddered and glanced over at Gilbert. Gilbert nodded his head reluctantly and Alfred let out a sharp curse and glared at him. Gilbert just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Then where can I stay?" Alfred asked. "Here with you?"

"There's hardly room, it's only a single," Arthur said patiently. "Do you have a friend you could room with for a while?"

Alfred seemed to consider it then he slumped his shoulders. "Not really," he said with a sigh. 'they...kept us pretty busy with the rush...I haven't really had time to meet anyone else."

Gilbert nodded his head and exchanged a glance with Francis and Antonio. He knew that gambit they used it to keep you separate from the rest of the student population. To make you more dependent on them more willing to sign your life away to them because you had no where else to turn.

"What about Mattie?" Alfred asked suddenly. "He'll have to lay low for a while too. Though...he probably has friends he can stay with."

"I will make sure that he knows to keep himself safe," Arthur said. "You should probably distance yourself from him for a little while though."

Alfred sighed and nodded his head. "As long as he's safe I'll be good. I can see if maybe there are some singles in a different dorm still available. That way if they come for me I'll be alone..."

"I'll see what I can do," Arthur said softly. "We won't be able to get you a new room until Monday though. So there's still the matter of where to put you for the rest of the weekend."

"I still have most of the money Mom gave me," Alfred said with a voice filled with reluctance. "I can put myself up in a hotel..."

"You can stay with us."

The words were out of his mouth before Gilbert even knew he'd thought them. The room grew so quiet you could hear a pin drop as the other four occupants looked at him like he'd suddenly grown three heads. He kept his gaze firmly on Alfred's. He already knew what the boy's reaction would be to the proposal and he wished he could give him his way but he could not. This whole thing was his fault and he was going to do what he could to try and fix it. Even if it meant delaying getting out of the situation as quickly as possible.

"What, no!"

Both Alfred and Arthur spoke at the same time. It would have been amusing if the situation was differently. Alfred continued to sputter and mutter and glare. Gilbert took it all calmly and waited until he ran out of steam.

"Gilbert..." Francis said softly at his side. "Perhaps we should discuss this outside..."

"Our place is off campus and we have an extra room," he said simply not looking at Francis. "It's only for the weekend."

"No," Alfred said again.

"You'll be safe until you can get another room," Gilbert said mildly. "Your brother will be safe because you're no where near where he is."

He knew the last one would be the hook. He'd only known the boy for a couple of hours and he knew his weakness. If he did that meant that Percy did too and when he exploited it it would be in a much nastier fashion then what Gilbert was doing. Best to let the frats forget that Alfred's brother even existed. They would focus more solely on Alfred and Gilbert would be there to keep them at bay.

There was no question of that now.

"It's a solid plan," Arthur said with great reluctance. "No one would ever come looking for him there."

"No one would dare even if they did know he was there," Antonio agreed.

Gilbert knew he had him on his side. Francis would be a harder nut to crack but it was only for a weekend he could ignore his friend's sulking for that long.

"No," Alfred said. "I'm not going anywhere near your place. I don't want anything to do with any of you. It's your fault I'm in this mess to begin with!"

"The kid has a point," Francis said mildly though it was clear from his tone that he knew he'd been beat.

"Sorry kid you've been out voted," Gilbert said simply ignoring Francis altogether.

"I can't be outvoted!" Alfred squawked. "My vote is the only one that matters...I AM the vote!"

"They're going to be on a warpath this weekend," he said laying things out in a cold hard fashion. "Do you really want to chance a run in with them. They'll not be so lenient the next time you meet."

"Lenient?" Alfred echoed in distaste. "You think that beat down was lenient?"

"Yes," Gilbert answered as simply as possible. "I do."

"Listen to him Alfred," Arthur said softly. "He knows what he's talking about."

Alfred gave him a long stare as if trying to decipher what Arthur was talking about. Gilbert gave him no answers. His shoulders slumped and he glanced over at Antonio who smiled a warm reassuring smile then his gaze slid to Francis who no doubt was looking irritated and annoyed. Then he looked back at Gilbert who held his gaze unblinkingly. He sighed and his shoulders drooped some more.

"I need to get some more of my stuff," he said.

"You're only staying for the weekend," Francis pointed out quickly.

"I need my bathroom stuff," Alfred said with a shrug. "And my books. I have a big test on Monday I need to study for."

Antonio frowned and walked over to put a hand on his shoulder. "You should be prepared that your books might not have made it through the onslaught."

Alfred's shoulders somehow manged to droop even lower and he sighed tiredly. "Guess we'll find out," was all he said.

They walked back to Alfred's room. He chewed his bottom lip as he carefully picked through his stuff. He managed to dig out a battered NASA backpack from underneath a pile of what looked like dirty laundry. A peek inside drew a relieved breath out of him. Gilbert could make out what looked like the top of a laptop and breathed a sigh of relief as well. He was already replacing the kid's iphone and whatever else had been destroyed in the room. He hadn't been lying when he said he had money but much more would make his father wonder what the hell was going on this time and bring a lecture down around his head.

Alfred gathered a second back pack (this one must have been his brothers because it had a Toronto Maple Leaf's patch on the front of it) and he filled it with another set of clothes and from the tiny, remarkably untouched bathroom he gathered his bathroom stuff an a third bright hunter orange backpack which he handed to Arthur.

"Mattie's books," he said when Arthur gave him a look.

"Why were they underneath the sink?" Arthur asked in confusion.

"He was annoying me before I left so I hid it there," Alfred explained in a quite voice. "He must have gotten annoyed with me in return and hid mine in the dirty clothes. Guess we got lucky because it saved both of us from having to get more books."

He looked sadly around the room and crossed over to pick up the destroyed teddy bear. "Guess the rest of our stuff wasn't so lucky. He's going to kill me..."

"He's going to be relieved that you weren't hurt worse then you are and that you weren't here when this happened," Arthur said softly placing a hand on his shoulder. "I can fix Kumajiro tonight he'll barely be able to tell he was destroyed at all."

Francis snorted and muttered something about silly Freshies under his breath which caught him a death glare from Arthur. Alfred however looked relieved and then as if something suddenly occurred to him his look turned horrified.

"They have my jacket," he said sharply.

"Your jacket?" Antonio asked.

"Yeah my grandfather's bomber jacket," Alfred said with a pained tone. "From World War II...I wore it over to the house to show it off but had to leave it when we headed out for the evening. They have it now..."

"We'll get it back," Arthur said gently. "I promise we'll get it back in one piece."

That was a steep promise to make but Gilbert thought it wasn't a bad one. They'd use the jacket as leverage and if it was as cool as it sounded Percy would want to keep it for his trophy collection. He met Arthur's eyes and he mentally made the same promise. Come hell or high water they would get that jacket back for him.

"I guess I'm ready," Alfred said after a long moment of silence.

Antonio walked over to him and slung an arm around his shoulder with gentle ease and led him towards the door. It was clear that Alfred was reluctant from the way he dragged his feet. But still despite his reluctance he walked forward. Gilbert couldn't help but admire the kid for it. For the whole evening actually. The kid had held himself remarkably well all things considered. They reached the bikes and Alfred handed his stuff to Antonio who placed it carefully in his storage area. Alfred huddled near Arthur watching him.

"Mattie..." he said tentatively to Arthur.

"I'll make sure he's safe," Arthur said gently.

"I don't have my phone it...broke..." Alfred said with a frown.

"I know how to get a hold of you," Arthur said. "And you know our numbers if you need us. Anything at all and I'll be there."

"Thanks Arthur," Alfred said softly.

Arthur wrapped his arms around the younger both and squeezed gently. Then Alfred crossed over to join Antonio by the bike. He got Alfred settled on the bike and then himself and he took off headed back across town towards their building. Now that they were alone Arthur didn't pull any punches.

"You're a bastard you know that Gilbert?" he snapped out in tired irritation.

"I know," Gilbert answered back easily. "I really didn't intend for any of this to happen."

"You're lucky I believe you," Arthur said darkly. "Other wise you'd look worse then he does right now."

Gilbert didn't doubt that was true. He didn't know the relationship between the two but he knew that Arthur took whatever it was seriously. Gilbert had only seen Arthur this mad once before and he knew that he could fight dirty when he wanted to.

"You're going to have to contact the campus housing to get the room fixed up and get him a new room," Gilbert said by way of distraction. "What are you doing to tell them?"

"I'll have to make something up so that Alfred doesn't get in trouble," Arthur said with a frown. "Since we both know that telling them the truth will do jack shit."

Gilbert nodded. Percy's frat had a lot of of the campus authorities deep in their pockets. Either because they were alumni themselves or because they were good at pulling the wool over people's eyes. They'd never believe that their precious favorite frat house was involved in something like this. They certainly hadn't the last time.

"You keep him safe or else," Arthur growled.

"Or else what?" Gilbert couldn't help drawl back.

"Just or else..."

Arthur turned and stalked back into the door leaving the threat hanging in the air between them. Gilbert didn't doubt that the "or else" would be very painful indeed. Thankfully he didn't intend to let anything happen to Alfred. He turned and found Francis glaring at him with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Gilbert..." he started in irritation.

"It's only for the weekend," Gilbert said waving him off.

Francis huffed as he settled himself on his bike and muttered something that sounded an awful lot like "it better be," under his breath. Gilbert knew what the other man was feeling. Trouble and irritation. That was what this whole night had been. Trouble and irritation. That was what Alfred was. No doubt about it the longer they hung around him the more trouble and irritation he would become. Gilbert was certain of it. The sooner they were free of him the better of they all would be including Alfred.

But...Gilbert thought as he pulled his helmet over his head. The boy did look damn near edible in red...

* * *

TBC


	5. I Kissed a Boy (Part 5)

I Kissed a Boy (Part 5)

Story Notes: From this point on the POV will be shifting between Alfred and Gilbert. It will be limited to one POV per chapter unless absolutely necessary and then it will be clearly marked.

I admit this chapter is mostly filler, long filler, it's mostly focusing on characterizations but there are a few things starting to be set in motion and hints of other characters that might show up soon.

* * *

Alfred stared up at the building the dark haired guy had pulled them up to incredulously. It looked like it was in bad shape which wasn't much of a surprise given the neighborhood it was in. Really how was coming to this part of town supposed to keep him safer then the dorms? The lower half of the building seemed to be occupied by a store. Given the hour it was dark but it looked like it was being used. As they headed towards the side of the building Alfred could make out what looked like a mix of English and Russian lettering on the door and front glass panel of the store front. Beyond the lettering he could see bunches of sunflowers in vases along the display ledge inside the building. It was a flower shop of some kind. Kind of a strange place for one to be.

Along side of the building there were two sets of stairs. One that went up and one that led down. There were lights shining in the windows of what he assumed was a basement apartment. As they passed by a thin ground level window Alfred was shocked when a pair of eyes appeared out of nowhere and stared out at him. They were gone almost as quickly as they appeared. He jumped and hurried after the guy.

"Who was that?" he asked nervously.

"Just keep walking," was the answer that he gave him as they started up the stairs that led above the building.

That wasn't reassuring in the slightest. He stayed close on the other guys heels as they entered the building then he stared at it with shocked eyes.

"Wow," he muttered softly.

To say the apartment wasn't what he was expecting on the outside was an understatement. It was mostly unfinished but clearly designed to look that way. The exposed walls were made up of brick and old looking dark wood half columns. There was a wide open space with couches and huge TV and a fireplace and beyond that a nice kitchen looking kitchen.

"Be it ever so humble," the man said playfully his eyes were warm and sparkling green.

"How..." he waved his hands in confusion.

"We got free run of the place to do what we wanted to it when we moved in," the man said with a grin. "We all have impeccable taste and so this is the result. The bathroom and bedrooms are down there," he said pointing towards a hall behind them that Alfred hadn't even noticed yet. "There's a terrace out off the kitchen and a joined fire escape on the outside wall on the other side of the building but I don't suggest going out there at night alone."

"Not a nice neighborhood?" Alfred asked nervously.

"It's not as bad as it looks but the neighbors can be a bit...territorial...and they won't know who you are so...probably best to just not push it," he said with a shrug.

"Point taken," Alfred said thinking back to the eyes that had stared out at him from the basement.

"I'm Antonio by the way," the man said holding out his hand to him.

"Alfred," Alfred said awkwardly shaking it and then he laughed. "I probably should have gotten your name before I rode off with you to some strange locations shouldn't of I?"

"You've had a rough night it's understandable you're a little distracted," Antonio said with a smile.

"Nah, I'm distracted all the time," Alfred said with a shrug. "Just ask Arthur he'll tell you that with great relish and detail. It annoys the crap out of him."

"Well anything that annoys the crap out of Arthur is fine with me," Antonio said with a grin. "I go out of my way to annoy him any chance I get."

"But I guess he wouldn't have sent me off with you if he didn't trust you," Alfred said after sharing a grin. He was going to like Antonio he just knew it.

"Oh he doesn't trust me any further then he could throw me," Antonio said with a snort.

"Well he doesn't really trust me much further then that either. But...he still wouldn't have allowed me to leave with you if he didn't on some level trust you," Alfred pointed out. Or at least he hoped that Arthur wouldn't send him off with someone he didn't trust.

Antonio just shrugged his shoulders again. "He's always been a little loose in the head," he said with a smirk. "But you have nothing to worry about from me," he teased. "You're Gilbert's type not mine."

Alfred froze mid laugh at the mention. He assumed Gilbert was the pale haired asshole that had gotten him into this mess. He felt anger seethe inside of him and wondered why he'd agreed to spend the weekend in an apartment where that guy lived. Antonio must have realized he'd misstepped because he changed the subject almost immediately.

"You hungry?" he asked in an easy tone.

Alfred realized in that moment that he hadn't eaten since he'd shoved an apple in his mouth when he'd been on the way to the frat house that afternoon after his last class. That had been hours ago and he hadn't had much else before that. They'd put him on a diet the second day of rush and he'd been struggling with it in the months since then. But Percy had insisted that he needed to loose the extra pounds he carried around his waist. Alfred shuddered at the thought of Percy and the things he'd whispered in his ear before Antonio and the others had come to his aid. His stomach, as if knowing he was in need of another distraction, rumbled.

"Ah...yeah..." Alfred mumbled flushing slightly in embarrassment.

Antonio just grinned at him like he was a cute little puppy in a window. Alfred would have glared at him for staring at him with that expression if he wasn't so embarrassed.

"Go take a shower and I'll whip something up for you," he said with a smile.

"Oh you don't have to do that," Alfred said with a rush. "I can just find something to snack on.'

"Trust me on this one kiddo," Antonio said with a breezy smile. "No one in this house will ever turn down an opportunity to cook something. You better get used to it."

Alfred thought that he could get used to that pretty quickly. Of course he'd only be here for a weekend. Still he smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I'll do my best."

Antonio nodded his head and then turned and headed towards the kitchen. Alfred took the hint and turned in the opposite direction and headed down the hallway towards where Antonio had indicated there was a bathroom. He was halfway there when Antonio's voice stopped him.

"He's not that bad you know," Antonio said softly. Alfred glanced over his shoulder with a confused frown. "Gilbert, he's really not that bad," Alfred scoffed slightly but didn't get a chance to say anything before Antonio hurried on. "I know tonight was...bad but...he's not...bad...he's a good guy and I know he feels horrible about what happened. He didn't intend for it to."

Then having said what was on his mind he turned back around and disappeared from Alfred's line of sight. Alfred frowned as he opened the door at the end of the hall. It turned out to be the bathroom and he was glad for it. He really didn't want to be looking through their rooms trying to find it. He shut the door behind him and leaned up against it with a sigh. Antonio's words hanging in his head. He wanted to hate Gilbert and he had every right to hate him but his friend seem sincere with his insisting that he wasn't a bad guy.

He huffed slightly and went over and turned the shower on. He would wash those thoughts out of his head. He wasn't going to allow himself to like Gilbert. The man had forced him to do something that he hadn't wanted (no matter how good a kiss it had turned out to be) and had caused him to get beat up and almost caused him to get much worse then that.

It might not have been Gilbert's intention but it had still happened. Alfred wasn't every going to be able to forget that fact.

He was sure of it.

* * *

Forty five minutes later he was out of the shower and dressed in his favorite pair of blue sweat pants and Captain America T-shirt. He felt clean and somewhat relaxed. He'd had a ten minute break down in the middle of the shower that he hoped the sound of the water had covered. It had been scary at the time since he'd never had anything close to a panic attack before in his life but he felt much better now that it was over. Now he felt less sore and smelled of a spicy shower gel that seemed vaguely familiar to him. It had been the only bottle in the shower and hadn't been marked so he had no idea what brand it was. He made a mental note to ask someone what it was before the weekend was over.

He padded barefoot down the hall. There was the sound of music and pans clanging from the kitchen. It made him feel comfortable and almost at home. That feeling fled the second he rounded the corner and came into view of the kitchen.

The others had arrived.

He paused awkwardly in the living room unsure what to do. Antonio turned and sent him a wide grin and waved him towards the group. The other members of the group were not so welcoming. The blonde that Alfred didn't yet know his name pinned him with an irritated stare over his shoulder before turning back to the stove he was standing near. Gilbert was sitting on a stool at the central island sprawled out over it. The look that he leveled on Alfred was a lot harder to decipher. Alfred shifted nervously under it. It was heavy and thick and the air was suddenly filled with tension. It was almost enough to send Alfred running back down the hall but he took a deep calming breath and walked forward instead.

Alfred tried to ignore Gilbert's presence as he walked into the kitchen. He paused near the island and fiddled with the edge of his t-shirt.

"Need any help?" he asked awkwardly.

"No," the blonde said shortly not even bothering to turn around.

"Hush you," Antonio muttered to him and then turned his attention back to Alfred. "Pay Francis no mind he's territorial about his kitchen. It took a year before I was allowed anywhere near the stove and Gilbert here still is only allowed to make a few things."

Francis huffed and swatted at Antonio. Then he reached for a bowl and turned and leveled Alfred with another long stare. "Can you use a whisk?" he asked.

Alfred blinked at him owlishly and then nodded his head. "Yeah...I make some pretty mean pancakes..."

"Oh boy shut your mouth and don't get Francis started on food..." Gilbert said in a teasingly warning tone.

The bowl was smacked down on the island in front of him and a whisk shoved in his face. "Whisk this," Francis said and then with a flourish he turned back to his stove.

Alfred stared at the bowl in nervous confusion. He had a feeling he was being tested and if he failed this very simple test he would never be able to get into Francis' good graces. He wasn't sure if he needed to but attempting to do so would probably make the weekend go a a lot easier. He settled onto a stool and began a quick whisk of the contents of the bowl that looked to be eggs mixed with a bunch of other things. Every so often he sent a nervous glance in Francis' direction half afraid the blonde would be staring him down grading every movement he made. Francis was never once looking at him.

"Don't worry, Kid," Gilbert drawled. "His bark is definitely worse then his bite."

"You only wish you knew what my bite felt like," Francis lobbed back.

"Well there was that one time during the New Year's Eve bash last year..." Gilbert teased.

"That only happened in your drunken dreams..." Francis said with a glower. "I would never lower myself to do that with you."

"Well you did," Gilbert challenged. "Repeatedly."

Alfred watched the exchange with wide eyes. He felt like a spectator at a tennis match. Antonio took pity on him and interrupted their snarking session with an admonishment.

"Gentlemen not in front of the children," he said with a shake of his head.

"I'm not a child," Alfred insisted.

This just caused the other three to exchange glances and snort into peels of laughter. He huffed at them but the tension in the room had lightened considerably and he felt the tightness in his chest loosen up. Maybe this weekend wouldn't be so bad after all.

He felt Gilbert's eyes on him as he stirred the bowl with a whisk. He dutifully ignored him. He didn't want anything to do with the pale haired boy and it would remain that way. He jumped in surprise when Francis appeared at his side and grabbed the bowl from him. It was only quick thinking that allowed him to drop the whisk a split second before it would have caused the contents of the bowl to spill all over the place. Francis eyed the contents of the bowl for a long moment and whisked them about a bit.

"Tolerable," was all he said before he turned back to the stove leaving Alfred to blink owlishly after him.

"That's high praise coming from him," Gilbert supplied into the confused silence. "The first time he asked me to stir something he swore at me for a full fifteen minutes afterward."

Francis made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. "My poor cookies..."

"...and he still hasn't let me live it down to this day..." Gilbert said with a role of his eyes. "That was two fuckin' years ago you big baby get over it already!"

"I will never get over it," Francis said pausing to place a hand over his heart and moaned over dramatically. "That batch of cookies has scared me for life."

He winked at Alfred and then turned back to the stove. Alfred felt something soften inside of him. He was sure Francis wasn't ready to be best friends with him but at least it didn't seem like he was going to toss him out on the street before the weekend was over at any rate. He sighed softly and rubbed at his nose and then winced when it reminded him of the evenings events. He felt eyes on him and slid his glance over to Gilbert who was staring at him intently.

"How are you doing?" Gilbert asked a moment later.

"Like I was run over a truck a few hundred times," he answered tightly. "And then ran over by a Zamboni a few more hundred times. But...better then earlier...I'll survive."

Gilbert nodded his head and then glanced down at the top of the island. "Good," was all he said.

Alfred frowned. The least Gilbert could do was apologize for causing this whole thing. A real apology not the one that been thrown at him when he was half out of it and could hardly remember it through a haze of pain and fury. It wouldn't help and it wouldn't make what had happened go away but an apology would be nice. It was the least that Gilbert owed him.

From the way that Gilbert was now completely ignoring him and leaning against the table in a lazy fashion Alfred suspected that a real apology would be a long time coming.

If he ever got one at all.

* * *

Alfred looked at the spread of food in front of him with nervous eyes. His stomach was definitely happy to see it all but he still felt guilty all the same.

"You really didn't need to make this much food," he said and then bumbled forward when he saw the darkening glare on Francis' face. "I mean thank you...but...I just meant you didn't have too..."

"Nah, it was no problem," Antonio said with a warm smile. "We always eat this much after a hu..." he squawked in pain and then cough and rubbed at the back of his head sending a nervous glance in Gilbert's direction. "After we go out."

Alfred's eyes narrowed at the cut off word and he sent a glare at Gilbert who was ignoring him in favor of glaring at Antonio. He sighed softly and tucked into the omelet in front of him. As it touched his tongue he let out a soft breathy moan. It was only the first bite and he already knew this was going to be the best omelet he'd ever eaten. There was a soft chuckle from Francis and Alfred flushed when he realized he'd made the noise loud enough for the group to hear even over the music and the clanging of dishes.

He glanced around the table. Francis looked pleased with his reaction. Antonio was busy attacking his own plate and Gilbert...Gilbert was staring at him with an expression that Alfred couldn't quite classify but made a shiver trail down his spine nonetheless. He jerked his eyes front and went back to eating. It indeed was the best omelet he'd ever eaten but he managed to keep his lusty thoughts about it in check as he ate.

"So Alfred," Francis said about midway through the other wise mostly silent meal. He leaned back against his chair and pinned Alfred with a lazy stare. "How do you know dear ol' Arthur?"

"Francis..." Gilbert said tightly with a slight shake of his head.

He and Francis locked gazes and glared at each other for a few long seconds in which Alfred had no idea what they were trying to convey to each other though it seemed they did. Whatever the silent argument had been about Francis seemed to win because he turned his eyes on Alfred again and continued his train of thought.

"You two seemed...close..." he drawled the word out playfully. "Are you two seeing each other?"

Alfred had been mid swallow when Francis asked his question. He choked on the piece of bacon and then tried to clear it as the laughter took over. Arthur...and him...a couple... The very thought was enough to send him into another choked laughing fit.

"Oh gods..." he managed to choke out before laughing again.

"Guess not," Antonio said with a chuckle of his own.

"Lord no," Alfred said taking a swallow of his juice. "Not in a million years...not under penalty of death...not...ever..." He tried to imagine being in a relationship with Arthur. Having to get romantic with him. Having to kiss him. He shuddered and took another sip of juice.

"Then what is up with you two?" Antonio asked when Alfred finally managed to catch his breath. "Because you still seemed pretty close."

"He's my stepbrother," Alfred said with a sigh poking at his omelet with a little less steam.

"You're stepbrother?" Gilbert asked in surprise. "He never mentioned he had step-siblings...older brothers and a younger one but never step ones..."

"I'm not surprised," Alfred said with a frown. "We've actually been neighbors since we were kids and best friends for almost that long...but...a few years ago my mom and his dad got married and...he wasn't happy about it and kind of blamed me and we haven't talked in like two years. We probably still wouldn't be talking except we ended up in the same dorm on the same floor."

"Why on earth would he blame you for that?" Antonio asked. "That seems extreme even for him."

"I was hit by a car when I was riding my bike and was in the hospital for ages," Alfred said shutting his eyes and shuddering at the memory. Thankfully he still didn't remember the actual accident all that much other then a flash of metal in the sunlight as the car jumped the curb. "During that time his dad was always around trying to help my mom and they fell in love."

"Seems like a bastard move on his part to blame you," Gilbert grumbled with a glare. "You didn't ask for any of that to happen."

"I've given up questioning Artie's thought process a long time ago. If he wants to hate me for something I had no control over I guess that's the right," he shrugged his shoulders and pushed away the sense of betrayal that still lingered beneath the surface as he also pushed his plate away from him.

He suddenly felt really exhausted and sore and he definitely did not want to talk about this anymore.

"Is there a place I can crash?" he asked softly. "I'm tired."

He felt the silence around him but didn't look at them. He didn't want to see the expression on their faces. They probably thought he was a silly, what had Francis called him earlier, Freshie. Gilbert pushed a stool out from the table and stood up.

"Yeah I'll show you were you can sleep," he said in a soft voice.

Alfred frowned. He didn't want to go with Gilbert. But he really wanted to crash so he guessed he'd have to. They walked silently down the hall and Gilbert pushed open one of the closest doors and then groaned softly.

"Crap I forgot about that..." he muttered to himself.

Alfred peered around Gilbert's pack and saw the room was covered in tarp and paint cans and old ladders.

"We started redoing this room at the beginning of the semester and then got busy," Gilbert said by way of an explanation.

"Oh," Alfred said with a frown. "I can just sleep on the couch..."

"Come on," Gilbert said shutting the door with a snap and continuing to walk down the hall.

He stopped at the door leading to the room next to the one they had just left. He opened it and stepped inside. Alfred followed him hesitantly. The room was sparsely decorated with walls painted black and black rugs covering hardwood floors. Against one wall was a massive bed that was covered in simple white coverings. The bed was unmade. He frowned and glanced back out into the hallway.

"Whose room is this?" he asked nervously not wanting to wreck the in roads he'd made with the other two by being caught uninvited in their room.

"It's mine," Gilbert said. "You can sleep here."

"I can just sleep on the couch," Alfred insisted backing up towards the door. He was stopped by a quick hand on his arm.

"You'll stay in here," Gilbert said firmly.

Alfred flinched at the touch. Gilbert dropped his hand quickly and in two quick steps was out of the room.

"Really, I'll be fine on the couch," Alfred repeated.

"You're hurt and you're a guest in my home," Gilbert said with a growl. "Just take the damn bed and shut up already."

Then he practically slammed the door shut cutting off any further arguments. Alfred glanced nervously around the room and then crossed over to the bed and sat down. It sank nicely under him as he did. He'd probably sleep better tonight then he had since he'd arrived at school.

He let his eyes wander around the room. It was not as bare as his first impression had shown him. There were books and other assorted knickknacks all over the place, they were shoved into bookcases and corners. They weren't neat but there was a certain order to their arrangement. Opposite the bed was a desk and a drafting table of some kind. That area of the room was much organized and looked to be well used. The walls near the desk and drafting table were covered in what looked to be design sketches and blueprints. He itched to go examine them but he was too nervous. The rest of the walls were covered in posters of what looked to be a variety of metal bands from Germany if the sheer amount of iron crosses they were covered in was anything to go by. Their glaring sneering faces made it clear how unimpressed they were with him being in their presence.

He maneuvered himself so he could slide into the bed. Staring up at the ceiling he was relieved to see there wasn't a mirror up there or something equally as horrifying. He didn't think he could handle that right now. He rolled over on his side and flicked off the lamp that had been left on. Then he snuggled into the extremely soft pillows with a sigh. He was almost asleep when something finally caught up to him and his eyes popped open and he sat up in shock. The whole bed smelled softly of the same spicy scent that the shower gel he'd used earlier had. That bottle must have belonged to Gilbert. He groaned and flopped back down against the pillow. He was strangely embarrassed that he'd spent a portion of the night smelling like the man he was supposed to be hating at the moment. He wondered what Gilbert thought about it or if he'd even noticed at all. Probably he hadn't.

He pulled the blanket up over his head and sighed at the annoyance that had popped up at that thought. He wasn't supposed to care if Gilbert noticed him or not. So what if the guy was a good kisser he was an asshole. He was supposed to hate Gilbert not want him to notice him.

He couldn't wait until Monday. He just wanted this whole mess to be over with.

* * *

TBC


	6. I Kissed a Boy (Part 6)

Another chapter that's more filler then not. Though it still contains important character stuff. I promise there will be actual plot progression in the next part.

* * *

Alfred yawned as he walked down the hall and into the living room. He'd slept well but he hadn't gotten a lot of it. His internal clock seemed to have tied itself to his actual alarm clock because he'd woken up at the time he would have set it for during the week. He'd dragged himself out of bed when he'd remembered all the homework he had to do over the weekend. Doing it would make him feel normal.

The way his body felt didn't make him feel normal. He was stiff and sore all over. A glance in the mirror revealed that he was covered in bruises from head to toe. He questioned being able to go to class on Monday. He'd have to come up with a cover story for what had happened to him. He was a known klutz so maybe he could use that to his advantage.

He stopped in the entrance to the living room and looked around. The room was empty. There was a pile of blankets and pillows on the couch but the occupant of the couch was not among them. He let out a relieved breath. He definitely didn't want to deal with Gilbert at the moment. His defenses were rubbed too low and raw. He crossed over to the couch and set the bag down and began pulling out his books and laptop. He was still relieved that they had made it through this incident in one piece.

Thank you Mattie for once again being such an irritating troll.

Once he had his books how he liked them on the coffee table he plugged his laptop in and got it running. Then he wandered into the kitchen. There were leftovers in the fridge but he didn't think his stomach could handle them at the moment so he settled for a some fruit and after a few tries managed to figure out how to get the fancy single cup coffee maker on their counter to work. While it brewed he wandered over to the door to the terrace and looked out.

It looked like it belonged attached to some fancy bistro not in this neighborhood. There were lots of plants and a few twirly looking chairs and small tables. There was what had to be a grill tucked into an alcove. He longed to go out and investigate everything more closely but he remembered Antonio's warning from the night before and decided against it.

When his coffee finished brewing he took it and the fruit back into the living room and settled himself down in front of his laptop. It took a bit of refreshing to remember where he was given the chaotic state of his mind at the moment but once he regained his train of thought he settled back in. The sound of his fingers moving across the keyboard soothed him and he soon found himself in the homework zone. Outside of the zone he could hear the sound of the others getting up and going about their morning routines but he didn't loose his focus.

That lasted until someone threw themselves down onto the couch behind him. He was jostled and bounced in his surprise, wincing as pain racked through his body. He turned and pinned the offender with an irritated glare. He was not at all surprised to see that it was Gilbert. He wanted to open his mouth to yell at him but he stopped himself. This was, as the other guy had pointed out the night before, Gilbert's home and he had taken over the place where Gilbert had been forced to sleep. Instead he turned his attention back to his work and struggled to regain the zone.

It proved hard with Gilbert breathing over his shoulder smelling warm and spicy which caused Alfred's insides to twist in ways he did not want them to around the other boy.

"Whatcha workin' on?" Gilbert practically sang in a cheerful voice.

Of course the asshole would be a morning person. Alfred hated morning people.

"Homework," he muttered tightly in response.

"Really, you don't say," Gilbert drawled and Alfred could practically hear the eye roll that he couldn't see.

He let out a squawk of annoyance when Gilbert reached out and snagged the book he'd been working out of. Gilbert kept the place with his finger and then closed it to look at the cover. He grimaced and put the book back down like it had bit him.

"Physics..." he said and shuddered.

Alfred shifted the book so it was in the exact spot it had previously been and tried to ignore the other guy's presence altogether. It took a bit but he managed to get halfway back into the zone. Fully was impossible with the antsy way Gilbert was moving around behind him. He jumped in surprise when Gilbert's face suddenly appeared over his shoulder peering at the screen.

"So what's your major, Kid," he asked.

"Uhm..." Alfred shifted nervously. Most people looked at him like a freak when he admitted what his planned major was. "Physics," he said after a moment.

Gilbert grimaced at that and Alfred pushed down the surge of defensiveness that rolled through him. He was used to people not getting it. Even Matthew didn't get it and they shared most of the same genes. He was momentarily surprised when he realized that Gilbert was actually reading the paper he'd been working on. He resisted the urge to snap the laptop shut. That would be far too childish a reaction.

"Which branch?" Gilbert asked after a moment.

His eyes didn't leave the screen and Alfred had the impression that he actually understood, at least a little bit, of what he was reading. Alfred frowned. This was where the regarding him as a freak usually started. Percy and forbidden him to discuss his major with anyone at any parties they might have. He wished he could figure out some way out of having to answer the question but Gilbert was regarding him expectantly.

"Astrophysics," he mumbled after a moment.

Gilbert regarded him with wide eyes and then after a moment grinned at him. "Cool," he said and it actually sounded like he meant it. Then he reached out and grabbed the book again.

Alfred blinked at him in surprise. Unsure what to make of such an unexpected reaction. Then he frowned because he noticed that Gilbert wasn't being nearly so carefully keeping his place in the book marked this time around. He knew which page he was on but still it was common courtesy. He was beginning to think, despite forcing Alfred to sleep in his bed, that Gilbert didn't know what that was. He reached for the book only to find it being kept just out of reach.

"This isn't intro materials," Gilbert said after a moment.

"I took Advanced Placement courses in school," Alfred muttered reaching for the book and pulling it close to himself. "And more placement tests when I got here. They bumped me up."

"You're smart..." Gilbert said after a long moment. His voice held a surprised and slightly incredulous tone.

"You don't have to say it like that!" Alfred said with a disgruntled huff.

He slammed the book down on the table and reopened it to the page he thought he'd been on and then frowned when he realized it wasn't the right page. Gilbert's hand reached forward towards the book brushing against his for a split second, Alfred jerked his hand back like it had been burned. Holding it close to his chest he watched as Gilbert flipped the pages a bit and stopped on the correct page.

"Nothing wrong with being smart," Gilbert said softly.

Alfred huffed again and turned back to his computer. He tapped at it for a long moment then sighed when he realized it was hopeless. As long as Gilbert was lounging around behind him he wasn't going to get anything done. He sighed and leaned back against the couch rubbing his forehead at the headache he could feel bubbling up inside him. Gilbert had laid down fully on the couch and was now staring up at the ceiling.

"So what's your major?" he asked after a long inward battle with himself. It was the polite thing to do when meeting someone for the first time, asking them about their major.

"Engineering," Gilbert answered easily.

Well that explained the drafting table and the design blueprints in his room.

Alfred shifted his position so that he was sitting more towards the couch. He was curious despite himself about this strange asshole of a guy. He rested his hands on his knees and then his chin against his hands.

"So like building...bridges and roads and stuff?" he asked trying to picture Gilbert designing bridges and failing miserably.

"Lord no," Gilbert scoffed. "The boring civil stuff more my brother's cup of tea. I'm aerospace...I'm going to design airplanes...awesome ones. Maybe even a spaceship or two if I'm lucky."

"Cool," Alfred said and he meant it.

There had been a time before the accident when he'd longed to be an astronaut. But after the accident he'd been saddled with eyesight that hadn't fully recovered and a pair of glasses and all hope of reaching orbit had vanished along with several other dreams he might have had.

"Yeah," Gilbert said with a smirk. "It's way more interesting then what the other two are majoring in."

Alfred wanted to ask but if felt rude and gossipy to ask about them when they weren't in the room. Gilbert didn't seem to have an qualms about it though he rolled over on his side and gestured towards the kitchen where Alfred could see Francis and Antonio sitting at the table reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.

"Francis is studying art history," Gilbert said with a roll of his eyes. "Never...ever...get him going on it he will not shut up about it and it's boring as fuck."

There was a snort from the kitchen that sounded suspiciously like Antonio. That suspicion was confirmed when the dark haired man winked at Alfred over the low half wall that separated the two rooms.

"What about Antonio?" Alfred asked curiously.

"Education," Gilbert said with a smirk. There was a soft whine of disgust from the kitchen.

"Education?" Alfred repeated softly.

That was not something he would have guessed at all. His own brother was studying education. That was a perfect fit in Alfred's mind. Not for Antonio. Though to be fair he had only known the man for a less then a day.

"He doesn't want to be here at all," Gilbert said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Trust me there's one thing the world does not need and that's Antonio having anything to do with shaping the minds of children. He's here because his parents expect it of him, they're both teachers, and he got a football scholarship."

"Football?" this completely shocked Alfred.

Antonio didn't have the build of any football player Alfred had ever met and he had met a lot since he'd played in high school until the accident and most of the frat had been made up of football players. He sent Gilbert an incredulous look thinking he was being played again. Gilbert smirked widely at him and leaned closer to whisper conspiratorially into Alfred's ear.

"Soccer."

"I heard that!" Antonio yelled from the kitchen.

Gilbert snorted and made a rude gesture at his roommate who made an echoing one back at him. Francis just ignore them all in favor of whatever article he was reading in the paper. Alfred wished he could do the same but he'd interjected himself into this conversation by starting it. Antonio playing soccer was a much better fit in Alfred's mind.

"Once he'd done his four years he'll be gone," Gilbert said after a moment. "He hopes to get picked up by a team somewhere. If nothing comes of it he'll probably try to get into a culinary school of some kind and open a restaurant someday."

Alfred glanced over into the kitchen where Antonio was nodding vigorously as he turned back into his paper. Both of these potentials seemed to fit the man much better. Though he was surprised that Francis wasn't the one that wanted to go into the culinary arts. Maybe he still would. They seemed like good friends and there was no reason they couldn't go into the restaurant business together even if Francis had another job in his chosen field. Alfred wondered at himself for thinking about these things. He didn't know these people why did he find himself so curious about them. He watched the two of them swap papers and sip their coffees quietly. It was almost a domestic scene.

"Are they together?"

There was another loud snort from the kitchen. This time it came from Francis because Antonio was too busy cracking up laughing. Alfred frowned and rubbed at the back of his neck in embarrassment. He was never good at reading things like this. It had caused him more trouble then not over the year. Then he remembered that they had all made the same mistake about him and Arthur the night before and felt a little better.

"Guess not," he mumbled.

"Not even close," Antonio said in a gaspy breath.

"Not in his dreams," Francis said before shoving his face back into his paper.

"I can see how you came to that conclusion though, Kid," Gilbert said in an amused tone. "They certainly act like an old married couple most of the time."

A well placed ball of paper came sailing through the air and hit Gilbert in the head. Alfred turned and looked into the kitchen. Antonio was still doubled over laughing. Francis was regarding him over the top of his newspaper with a raised brow. Alfred wondered if he played baseball because if he didn't he definitely should be pitching with that aim.

"Bastard," Gilbert bit off with a friendly laugh and lobbed it back with much less precision. It didn't even make it to the kitchen. "Antonio is mostly straight," he said after a moment.

Alfred flushed slightly. He definitely didn't feel comfortable having this conversation with Gilbert. For a variety reasons one being that he didn't want to answer the inevitable questions that might come his way. Gilbert seemed unaware of his discomfort or maybe he just didn't care. Alfred had learned enough about Gilbert over the past day to know that either answer could be true. With a sigh he rubbed at the back of his neck again and dipped his toes into the dangerous waters if only because what Gilbert said made little sense to him and he was curious.

"Mostly straight?" he asked.

"Yeah," Gilbert said with a laugh. "He loves the ladies, especially those that are gifted in the chestal area. But he's adventurous and likes to have a good time though so sometimes...he dabbles on the side...but not very far on the side...when he comes out with us. He's an excellent wing man. Someday though he'll abandon us for a pretty face, a gaggle of kids and a cute house with a white picket fence."

"The sooner the better I say," Antonio said but there was only teasing in his voice.

That prospect sounded nice to Alfred. Except maybe the pretty face. Or at least the type of pretty face that they were talking about.

"Francis goes both ways," Gilbert continued with a smirk. "Or maybe it's better to say multiple ways..."

"All the ways!" Antonio supplied from the kitchen.

"That's the **only** way to go," Francis said with a shrug.

Alfred looked at him with wonder. Francis seemed so comfortable in his own skin. Alfred wondered how he managed that. Alfred wondered if he would ever be that comfortable with himself. He didn't think he would. Once a long time ago he thought he knew everything about himself. He had his whole life planned. It had been a bright future filled with adventure, medals, parties and lots of women. Then at some point the women started to change into men (or maybe if he was really truthful with himself they had always been men but he'd chosen to ignore that for a more Hollywood picture of his future life) and then the accident had happened and everything he had planned for his life had been swept away leaving him in a constant state of confusion constantly trying to figure out this new version of himself.

He turned his head and found Gilbert regarding him curiously. He wondered what the other guy was thinking. If he was being judged for how he was going to react to Francis and his inclinations.

"That's cool," he said. "Certainly gives you more options in life."

"It does indeed," Francis said flicking to the next page in his newspaper. "That's just the way I like it."

Alfred set his head down on his knees and let out a puff of air. Gilbert seemed to have found whatever he was looking for and lay back down on the couch staring upwards. Alfred realized he didn't know which way Gilbert leaned. He suspected from their encounter the previous evening but as Francis had already proven that didn't really give the full story.

"How about you?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Gilbert turned his head and regarded him for a long moment then he shrugged his shoulders as best he could from his prone position. "Completely gay," he said. "Well there was a girl in my youth that I crushed on but that ended when I realized I liked her bastard of a boyfriend more then her."

Alfred nodded and let out another puff of air. He'd been there before himself. Silence descended over the room and he shifted awkwardly. He didn't want to draw attention to himself because he didn't want the same questions that had just been asked of the others to be asked of him. He curled up around himself and waited. He felt Gilbert shift upwards into a sitting position and tensed. But the expected questions never came. Instead Antonio broke the silence in a most unexpected way.

"Wasn't that bastard of a boyfriend some distant relation of yours?"

"No!" Gilbert said with a huff. "No way. He's not awesome enough to be related to me."

"It wouldn't have lasted," Francis interjected. "The bastard boyfriend doesn't fall into the type he really likes."

"Oh yes The Type," Antonio said gleefully. "We must not forget The Type."

"Shut up," Gilbert snapped uncomfortably.

"Tall, blonde..." Francis started with a grin.

"Blue eyes, looooong legs..." Antonio continued with a smirk.

"I said shut up!" Gilbert said darkly.

Alfred found himself pushed into the coffee table as Gilbert suddenly launched himself from the couch and hurried into the kitchen. Antonio was cackling almost viciously as Gilbert wrapped an arm around his throat and pulled him from the stool knocking it over. Antonio slipped out of the grasp and raced away from the table. Francis got involved by yelling at them to not destroy his kitchen in their playground games.

Alfred turned his head and stared at his computer. The screen had powered down and gone black and he caught a flash of his reflection in the screen. He wasn't an idiot. He knew the description of Gilbert's type was him in a nut shell. Well he didn't know about the long legs but the rest of it was what he saw when he looked in the mirror every morning. Not to mention that Antonio had come out and clearly stated that he was Gilbert's type the night before.

At least now he understood why he had gotten dragged into this mess.

Gilbert clearly had a bone to pick with Percy if the bits of conversation he'd caught were anything to go by and he, Francis and Antonio had been out looking for trouble. Alfred had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and the fact that he fit the things that Gilbert liked in a potential conquest just put him in the very center of the bulls-eye. It was far easier to use someone that you liked the look of then someone who you didn't. If there had been someone else there instead of Alfred the same events would probably have played out, though granted maybe a little bit differently it that person didn't kiss Gilbert back, It had nothing to do with him personally at all.

Alfred didn't know if that made the situation that much better...or worse...

* * *

TBC


	7. I Kissed a Boy (Part 7)

Alfred stared in the bathroom mirror. He was trying to arrange his hair to cover up the majority of the bruises on his face. While it was longer and shaggier then it had been in a while it was not long or shaggy enough to do anything useful. He sighed and pressed his hands against the counter and dropped his shoulders. They were still blotchy and angry looking. It would probably take a week before they started to fade. He'd spent a good portion of Sunday trying to apply ice packs to his face to coax the process along but he knew by then it was too late. The others had offered their suggestions which had ranged from fairly useful to downright horrible (he was definitely not going to sneak into the theater department and steal the stage makeup thank you very much).

The weekend over all had been a quite one. After the events of Saturday morning the other three had dispersed to do whatever it was they did on the weekends leaving Alfred to fall back into the zone and finish his paper. When he was done he'd wandered back into Gilbert's room. He was stiff and sore from sitting for so long and he wanted to take a nap. Gilbert had been in there hunched over his drafting table, presumably doing his own work, classical music was playing from some source that Alfred couldn't see. They'd exchanged long looks but Gilbert had only turned back to his work.

Alfred had been left with a dilemma. Stumble all the way back into the living room or get into the bed anyway. He opted for the latter option. Gilbert hadn't argued when he'd crawled back into the bed. The music had silence and when Alfred opened his eyes to tell him that wasn't necessary he discovered that Gilbert had simply put headphones on. He'd drifted off to sleep a few moments later.

He'd slept until Antonio game to wake him up to discuss what he wanted or dinner. In the end they'd decided on Chinese from a local restaurant. The food had been amazing. They had assured him that while the take out food was amazing it was nothing compared to when you visited the restaurant on a slow time during the day and the owner, Yao, would make a spread of actual authentic Chinese food for you for practically nothing. The thought intrigued Alfred but he had not dwelled on it for long. It was not something he was going to experience once he returned to campus and had no reason to visit this part of town.

Which was something he was happy about because during dinner there had been gunshots from the building next to them. It had freaked him out but Gilbert had waved it away saying that it was just Vash in the building next door firing warning shots at people who ventured too close to the building again. Since that was the building that faced the terrace Alfred was infinitely glad he had not given into his curiosity to explore it more. They had followed dinner with an absolutely horrible movie they dug up on Netflix about zombies and strippers. Alfred had fallen asleep towards the end of it and had woken to discover Gilbert trying to manhandle him down the hall without waking him. Embarrassed he'd feigned sleep until he'd been dumped into bed.

He'd tried hard to ignore the hidden strength that Gilbert possessed and the feel of the other man's hands on his body. He'd curled away from Gilbert when he'd hit the bed sprawling out so that he would be tempted to cover him up or something like that. Gilbert had still lingered far too long making Alfred wonder what he was thinking.

The next day had followed the same path. He'd finished up his homework in the morning and then forced the others to watch a (real) football game in the afternoon. It had devolved into an entertaining argument with Antonio with the other two adding in their two cents to antagonize the process along. There hadn't been dinner that night because they'd spent the whole day snacking on the contents of the fridge and Alfred had gotten himself to bed at a decent time.

Now it was morning and he definitely did not want to face the day. Did not want to face the crowds of students looking at him wondering what had happened to him. Did not want to face the possibility of seeing Percy or the others. He'd never been a coward he'd always faced his problems head on in the past flying to rehabilitation after his accident and taking the chess team to the highest national level when he could no longer play sports. But this time...he shivered and remembered the lewd comments Percy had whispered in his ear. If they caught him alone and unaware...

He shuddered and pushed open the bathroom door and hurried down the hall. Francis and Antonio had later classes but Gilbert's class started at the same time Alfred's did. Thankfully they were both located in the Science Building but Alfred didn't want to make Gilbert late because he was playing a game of woe-is-me with himself and the bathroom mirror.

Gilbert was leaning against the counter a cup of coffee in his hand. There was another one on the counter which he handed to Alfred when he appeared. Alfred took it gratefully though surprised that Gilbert had been paying attention to know what sort of coffee he drank. It warmed his mouth and chased some of the gloomy clouds away from him.

"You sure you want to go in today?" Gilbert asked quietly. "They might be faded a bit more by tomorrow..."

"Nah," Alfred shook his head. "Why put it off until tomorrow. Might as well get the cover story out there into circulation as soon as possible."

Gilbert nodded his head. "What did you decide on?" Gilbert asked. "I still rather liked Antonio's suggestion of saying to were running with the bulls in Spain over the weekend..."

"As much as it would be awesome to make people believe that I'd rather stick to something simple," Alfred said with a soft chuckle. "I'll just saying I got distracted and took a tumble down Pike's Hill on campus. Everyone should buy that I am easily distracted lot of the time."

They finished their coffee in silence. Gilbert dumped both glasses in the sink and shouldered his hefty looking messenger bag. Alfred shouldered his own with a wince causing Gilbert to frown at him.

"You don't need to take all your stuff," he said. "One of us can drop your personal bag off at the Arthur's room during the day."

"Nah," Alfred said with a shake of a head. "I don't want to be a bother." Gilbert opened his mouth, probably to argue, but Alfred hurried on. "I'm in lab all day today and there are lockers in the back of the room so I can just dump my stuff there. I have to see if I can get a hold of Mattie during a break today I can probably con him into coming and caring my stuff back across campus later."

Gilbert shrugged his shoulders and lead them out of the door. The air was crisp and cool. Fall was firmly entrenched on the city and winter would fast be upon them. Alfred grimaced he wasn't looking forward to that. The basement apartment and the flower shop were both dark when they past them. Alfred was glad because he didn't want to see those creepy eyes popping out at him again. They stopped at Antonio's bike and Alfred frowned. Sensing the question Gilbert turned to him with a smile.

"He's got the bigger storage unit so we're taking his bike today."

"Does he know about this?" Alfred asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry, Kid," Gilbert said with a laugh opening up the storage unit and handing the second helmet to Alfred. "It was his idea."

Alfred eyed him suspiciously but carefully placed his bags in the storage hold. It's not like he'd have to deal with Antonio's reaction if Gilbert was lying. Gilbert gestured for him to get on and then slid in front of him. Alfred tentatively wrapped his arms around Gilbert's waist only to grip tighter when they took off towards the school.

Now that he wasn't out of it or confused and scared he found the rid to be exhilarating. It wasn't exactly like riding a horse but it also wasn't completely different. Riding horses was one of the few sports related things he was still able to do as long as he wore a protective helmet while doing it. It was a source of freedom and happiness for him. He could see riding a motorcycle easily becoming the same sort of thing. Though he didn't think his mother would let him buy one anytime soon and she would give him a hard time if he decided to do it later in life.

Too soon they reached campus. Gilbert parked the bike and they switched the helmets out for the bags. Gilbert shouldered his extra bag and pinned him with a look so dark and dangerous when he tried to take the bag back that he dropped his hand instantly. He swallowed and headed towards the Science Building.

He didn't realize there was going to be trouble until Gilbert reached out and snagged the back of his shirt and stopped him. He started to argue but then he saw what had caught Gilbert's attention. There standing in front of the door to his class was Percy and a couple of his other former frat brothers. He'd forgotten the fact that he'd been required to give them his schedule during rush week all those months ago. Now he realized that Gilbert must have known which was why he had insisted on walking him to class. Percy smirked when he saw the pair in the center of the hall. He stretched out his hands and turned in a smug circle.

It was only then that Alfred realized Percy was wearing his jacket. His grandfather's World War II bomber jacket that he'd left at the frat house. He turned his hands into fists as anger coursed through him and he took a step in the direction of the door.

"No," Gilbert said close to his ear is hand still twisted in the back of Alfred's shirt. "Don't confront him about it now. It's what he wants. Just go into class like he's nothing. It's exactly what he is. Nothing."

Alfred didn't know about that. Percy was everything on this campus and he was also blocking the door. Alfred glanced back at Gilbert to ask him how. Gilbert plastered a smirk on his face and strolled up towards the door.

"Oh look what the cat dragged in this morning," he drawled and Alfred swallowed nervously. "A disgusting mangled rat and the two lumps of turd hanging off of it." He leaned forward and staged whispered towards Percy. "I should warn you I'm not really sure which of you is which in that equation."

Percy jerked forward but stopped himself short with a snarl. Alfred knew that if the professor wasn't right on the other side of the open door he would have punched Gilbert. Gilbert probably knew it too but that didn't seem to stop him from sidling closer to get fully into Percy's face (as much as he could with the height difference between them). He gestured towards Alfred to come towards the room. Alfred took a deep breath and did.

"Awww...so cute Beilschmidt walking your girlfriend to class," Alfred tensed but Gilbert just smirked wider. "What's next you going to carry her books? Oh wait..." he reached out and fingered the bag on Gilbert's shoulder. "Looks like you've already gotten to that stage."

"You're just jealous I got there first," Gilbert drawled.

Alfred stared at him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. One of the other frat boys grabbed Alfred by the shoulder as Percy launched himself in Gilbert's direction. The whole scene was stopped by the clearing of a voice behind them. They turned to face the professor who was glaring daggers at them.

"Gentlemen you're blocking the door," he said coldly. "Alfred class will be starting in a few minutes you best get yourself settled in if you want to have enough time to complete your experiment today."

Alfred let out a sigh of relief. The frat boy holding on to him let go and he slid past Gilbert and into the class. He watched the scene outside the door nervously. Percy seemed to know he was out numbered. The frat might have some of the school in their back pocked but undermining a professor was still not a good idea. Percy turned towards him and sent him an awkward, incorrect salute and then turned and ambled out of view his lackeys following him.

Alfred watched as Gilbert continued to glare down the hallway after them until the door was shut between them.

* * *

Alfred's experiment was a success. He'd only gotten a few questions about his appearance and most just seemed to believe his cover story if their muffled laughter and understanding nods were anything to go by. He was bouncing on his heels until he got to the door and then grew a little cold. What if Percy was out there waiting for him? Alfred didn't know Percy's schedule but he did know that he got other people to do his homework for him most of the time. And if Percy did happen to be in class one of the other frat boys might be out there instead.

He stepped nervously out into the hall and then breathed in relief when he saw no one that shouldn't be there.

"Hey, Kid."

He jumped a mile and glanced down. Gilbert was sitting up against the wall outside the classroom, his laptop propped in his lap and his books on the ground around him. There was a large drink next to him and a bag of chips. Alfred wrinkled his brow as he watched the other guy start to pack up his things.

"Have you been out here the whole time I was in class?" he asked in surprise.

"No I went and got food at about the three hour mark," Gilbert said shouldering his bag.

"You had class..." Alfred pointed out weakly.

"I've been telecommuting," Gilbert said. "We're allowed a few days a semester."

"Telecommuting from down the hall from your classroom..." he said in confusion.

"It all works the same," Gilbert said shoving his stuff into his bag.

"But..." Alfred rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You didn't have to do that I was fine in class..."

"They've come back several times," Gilbert said evenly. "Not Percy but some of his minions. If I wasn't here they would be."

"But..." Alfred said with a soft whine.

He felt horrible for causing Gilbert to miss his classes for the day. He felt horrible in general for causing this whole mess. Even though Gilbert had a bigger part he still added to the mess. If he'd just managed to keep control of himself on Friday night none of this would have happened. But Gilbert was attractive and his lips had felt nice and Alfred had never had a real kiss and it was all just too much to ignore it.

"Look I got you into this mess it's the least I can do to make sure you get out of it in one piece," Gilbert said shouldering his bag.

"You didn't completely get me into the mess," Alfred said with a sigh. "I mean I played my part..."

Gilbert sent him a long look then shrugged his shoulder. "There wouldn't have been a mess at all except for my actions."

"But..." Alfred insisted quietly.

"Come on," Gilbert said shortly. "We need to head back to your dorm we're supposed to meet Arthur and the others when your class is over. I think Arthur talked to the housing department."

"Oh yeah," Alfred said with a nod he trotted behind Gilbert's quick pace. His stomach rumbled loudly. "You don't happen to have any other food do you? I didn't have time to eat today..." it was a lie. He'd been too afraid to leave the class at lunch and he hadn't brought anything with him other then some gum to eat. He'd bummed some carrots of the person at the desk next to him but he hadn't wanted to ask anyone else for more.

"Yeah," Gilbert said with a snort. "I've got extra you can have it when we get to the dorm. We've got to hurry you're too exposed here."

Alfred glanced nervously around himself and hurried to settle in beside Gilbert. Gilbert said nothing more as they hurried across the campus.

* * *

"Alfred!"

Alfred found himself engulfed by familiar arms the second he set foot into Arthur's room. He tensed for a moment to recover from the pain that sliced through him and then wrapped his own arms around the boy in question and squeezed tightly.

"Hey Mattie," he said softly.

Matthew pulled back after a moment and reached up and grasped Alfred's face in his hands. There was no misinterpreting the horrified look on his brother's face as he took in the damage there. He could easily read the thoughts circling around his brother's eyes. He was remembering the accident and how they'd almost lost each other. Matthew had taken the accident hard, perhaps harder then anyone including Alfred himself. But Alfred understood that. The thought of loosing his other half had kept him up in cold sweats on many nights and Matthew hadn't ever been seriously injured or even sick their whole lives.

Though he didn't look it Matthew was apparently built like a tank. He'd made it through a decade of playing hockey without a single serious injury. That had to be some kind of record. Alfred on the other hand was apparently made of glass because he was the one that got his first broken bone when he'd tripped over a crack in the sidewalk when he was 2. He was pretty sure almost every one of his bones had been broken at some point or another over the course of his short life...and that was before he'd been hit by a car.

"I'm alright," he said gently. "No broken bones this time."

"Mom is going to kill you!" Matthew said pulling Alfred into another hug.

"You didn't call her did you?" Alfred asked in horror.

If his mother knew she could descend on them at any moment. Richard would probably be with her too and that would just serve to make things more awkward and complicated since he and Arthur seemed to be on the road to mending fences.

"No of course not," Matthew said with a shake of his head. "I'm not crazy you know."

"Good," Alfred said letting out a relieved breath.

"But her 'Alfred-has-gotten-himself-hurt-again' spider senses are definitely tingling. She called me like 4 times this weekend looking for you. I told her you lost your phone again. You owe me big time."

"I know...I know..." Alfred said and hugged his brother again. He didn't know what he'd do without him. "I'll make you pancakes every day when we go home for winter break."

Matthew beamed at him and he knew that that was a satisfactory suggestion. There was a soft cough behind them and Alfred turned his head to glance at the rest of the group near the door. Gilbert had his hand over his face and was clearly trying not to laugh. The other two just looked bemused. Drawing attention to himself was a bad move because Matthew gave Gilbert a once over and then stalked in his direction.

"Mattie...don't..." Alfred said hurriedly even though he knew it was too late.

"You're Gilbert?" Matthew demanded sharply.

"Yes," he said raising a cocky eyebrow at Matthew.

Alfred winced knowing what was coming. He'd been on the receiving end of it more times then he could count.

"You're the one who got my brother into the mess?" Matthew continued darkly.

"Yeah," Gilbert answered turning serious as he glanced over at Alfred. "That was me."

Matthew launched himself at Gilbert. Not physically but with words. Sharp, painful slicing words. It was a mix of angry insults and every swear word in his vocabulary including a few that me must have picked up while at school because Alfred hadn't heard them yet. He made a mental note to get them added to the list when this all blew over. Gilbert stood there stock still, clearly in shock, taking everything launched at him with a stiff straight spine. Alfred was impressed. His brother was really going at it. Half this level would have brought even Arthur to his knees already. His brother only stopped when he ran out of air.

"I like this guy," Francis said brightly, he threw his arm around Matthew's shoulder and pulled him closer. "I like you!"

That was the wrong move. Matthew slipped out from under the arm and turned his steely glare on Francis.

"You were there Friday night?" Matthew asked dangerously.

Francis seemed to realize his mistake and he held up his hands in a placating manner. That only served to fully rile Mathew up and he launched another attack. This one wasn't nearly so long or nasty because his brother seemed to be distracted by Antonio who couldn't stop laughing. Alfred knew that Matthew would lay into Antonio too. Or he would have if they weren't distracted by Arthur clearing his throat from where he was sitting on his bed.

"As entertaining as the floor show has been..." he sent a smirk towards Gilbert and Francis. "I think we should get down to the reason we're here so I can get you all out of my room as soon as possible."

"Aww Artie," Antonio drawled. "Don't you like us anymore?"

"Hardly," Arthur said with a role of his eyes.

Alfred used the time to cross over to Gilbert. There was an apology in his eyes for his brother's actions but Gilbert just shrugged his shoulders at him. Then sensing why Alfred was approaching him he dug out a bag of chips and a 20 oz bottle of soda from his bag and handed them to Alfred. Alfred's stomach grumbled loudly as he moved to join the others who had settled themselves around the room. Matthew had settled on the end of the bed leaving a space between himself and Arthur that Alfred assumed was for him. He settled tentatively in the spot and opened up the bag and shoved a handful of chips into his mouth spreading crumbs everywhere. He heard Arthur sigh wearily next to him and his brother was giving him an exasperated look.

"What?" he said around his mouthful of chips.

"You had your all day lab today didn't you?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah..." Alfred said with a shrug. "So?"

"For god's sake please let him swallow before trying to hold a conversation with him Matthew," Arthur growled.

Alfred quickly finished the bite in his mouth and took a long swig of soda before turning his attention back to his brother who was glaring at him outright.

"Have you had anything to eat today?" Matthew asked.

"I had an apple this morning..."

"You get a lunch break in the middle of class," Matthew fussed. "Why didn't you get something then?"

"I ah...couldn't..." Alfred mumbled sending a glance over at Gilbert.

"Why not?" Arthur demanded.

"Percy and two of his goons were outside the room waiting for him this morning," Gilbert supplied quietly.

"I didn't want to leave at lunch because...I thought I might run into them and I didn't have anything else with me...I didn't know Gilbert was sitting out there watching the door."

"You sat outside his class all day?" Matthew asked quietly turning to pin Gilbert with a surprised look.

Gilbert shrugged his shoulders. "I left for a bit once I was sure they wouldn't be getting any breaks but yeah...I stayed to make sure they wouldn't come back."

"Thank you," Matthew said softly then he wrapped his arm around Alfred's shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. "We'll get you some burgers after we're done here okay?"

Alfred nodded and leaned his head against his brothers shoulder. The promise of real food made hist stomach rumble so he kept eating the chips though at a slower pace.

"What a mess this whole situation has turned into," Arthur muttered with a sigh.

"Sorry," Alfred mumbled feeling horrible again for helping to cause all this.

"It's not your fault Alfred," Arthur said evenly and though he couldn't see it Alfred felt the glare he was sending in Gilbert's direction.

Alfred wanted to speak up and point out that it was partially his fault but Antonio spoke before he had a chance.

"Did you get a hold of housing?" he asked.

"I did but it's not good news I'm afraid," Arthur said with a sigh. "It's going to take them a while to repair the room, knowing this school they won't worry about it until next summer. They've re-homed Matthew into a double in this building...with your brother actually," he said with a nod to Gilbert. "Apparently he scared away his last roommate so there was an opening."

"Sounds like Ludwig," Gilbert said with a snort.

Alfred's eyes widened and he stared at Gilbert in shock. Scary Ludwig was Gilbert's brother? That guy was the most terrifying individual Alfred had ever met. His glares alone could silence everyone with in a half mile radius. The only people Alfred had seen attempt to be friendly to him were Kiku, who probably just wanted to pick his brain (and maybe dissect it Kiku was pretty creepy himself sometimes) and the pretty brunette girl on the third floor who probably just didn't know any better since her brother was almost as terrifying as Ludwig was.

No matter how he tried he couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Ludwig and Gilbert were brothers. They seemed so different.

"I'm pretty sure you can hold your own in a shouting match with him, Kid," Gilbert said with a good natured wink. "But just remember his bark is worse then his bite. Just feed him lots of brats and beer and you'll be his best friend in no time."

"So what's the bad news?" Antonio interjected. "You said you didn't have good news but clearly this worked out well."

"There are no more singles available in the dorm...or on campus actually," Arthur said with a frown. "There are a couple of rooms in suites in another building but I don't think that's a good solution to our current problem."

"Why not?" Alfred asked. "I can move to a different dorm if I have to. I mean I like being near you guys but I'll be fine on my own."

"No," Arthur said in a tone that sounded final. "You can't do that."

"But...why not? " Alfred asked with a frown.

"If Gilbert wasn't with you today what do you think would have happened when you got to class with Percy out there waiting for you?" Arthur asked. "You don't know everyone they know. They could have people on their side that you don't know from the frat. You'd be a sitting duck."

"Why can't I just go to the school authorities?" Alfred asked stubbornly refusing for a moment to give into the fear that was bubbling up beneath the surface. "Shouldn't they be there to help me in this situation?"

"They're in the frat's pockets," Gilbert said coldly. "They would think you were just making the story up and even if they did believe you...there's not much they can do without proof and no one else saw the fight besides us."

"You guys were witnesses though," Alfred said. "You could tell them what you saw!"

"It won't work," Gilbert said softly. "They'd definitely think we were making it up...might even think we did this to you instead."

"But..." Alfred said with a frown. "I would tell them you didn't!"

"It...won't...work."

Alfred shuddered at the cold finality in Gilbert's voice and sighed. This really was a giant mess.

"I guess I can camp out on someone's floor for a while until it blows over."

"It's not going to blow over, Kid," Gilbert said with a frown. "Percy won't give up until he gets his payback for making him look like a fool."

"I didn't make him look like a fool!" Alfred insisted quietly. "I didn't do anything to him!" Gilbert said nothing. Alfred frowned and stomped his foot. "This is your fault," he growled at Gilbert.

"I think we've already established that yes this whole thing is my fault," Gilbert said tiredly.

"You've done something to antagonize Percy," Alfred said hotly. "The only reason he's latched on to me it's to somehow get back at you..."

"Alfred, don't..." Arthur said tightly.

"That's not the only reason," Gilbert snapped back coldly. "Trust me Percy would have weaseled out your little secret sooner or later and he would have been more then happy to use it against you. Then you'd be in this same position only a lot more damaged."

"Gilbert..." Antonio said softly.

"I did you a fuckin' favor," Gilbert snarled.

Alfred flinched but said nothing he just wrapped his arms around himself and sighed softly. "So what options does that leave me with?" he said after a moment. He tried to think but his thoughts were just a jumble of not good outcomes. "I can look for something off campus...but I'll have to find a job which I don't know how I'm going to be able to do that with my full class load. I guess I could drop some classes..."

"Alfred just talk to Mom and Richard," Matthew said softly. "I'm sure they'll understand and want to help you."

"She'll pull me out Matthew and we both know it," Alfred said quietly.

His mother hadn't really wanted him to come at all. She didn't think he was ready even though it had been two years since the accident. It was only because he'd worked his butt off and received a full ride in scholarships that would have been taken away from him that she'd finally given in and let him leave home.

"You can stay with us."

Every head in the room turned towards Francis. He looked surprised himself like he hadn't really meant to say that out loud.

"Francis...maybe we should talk about this..." Antonio said sending a wary glance in Gilbert's direction.

"It's our fault this happened," Francis said and Alfred was really surprised that he was the one that was going to be pushing for this he didn't think the blonde liked him at all. "And we have the room. I don't see what the problem is."

Antonio rolled his eyes slid his arm through Francis' and snagged Gilbert by the back of his collar. They huddled together the whispering grew louder and Alfred could tell they were arguing. He felt his shoulders slump. He hated causing so much trouble. You'd think he'd be used to it given how much he'd caused over the year but he still hated it.

"I should just call mom," he said softly.

He was gesturing towards Matthew to let him borrow his phone when the group turned around. Francis shoved Gilbert into the center of the room. Gilbert glared at him and then glared at Alfred.

"You'll stay with us," he said shortly.

"But..."

"It wasn't a suggestion kid. Get what you need from your room and we'll get everything else tomorrow. Ludwig has the day off so we can borrow his car."

Alfred sighed and glanced at Arthur who shrugged his shoulders.

"It's that, going into debt, or going home Al," Matthew pointed out softly.

"I'm still going to have to go into debt to cover my part of the rent...I don't think I can afford the rent there..." Alfred babbled softly his shoulders drooping slightly. "Their apartment is amazing."

"I don't recall saying anything about asking you to pay rent," Gilbert said gruffly.

"But...I have to I can't just stay there rent free..." Alfred argued. "I can't..."

"We can discuss this more when we get settled," Antonio said good naturedly.

"None of us need your money, Alfred," Francis said softly and Alfred wondered, not for the first time, how they could afford to have the place at all. "And it's our fault that you're in this predicament and you know we have more then enough space for you at the apartment."

Alfred sighed, he could tell they had already made up their minds and whatever argument he tried to make would fall flat. He'd deal with the time when they inevitably grew tired of him and changed their minds about him not paying rent when it came.

"Fine whatever," he muttered. "But as soon as this all blows over I'm back on campus and I'll pay you back...somehow..."

"Are you always so argumentative?" Gilbert snapped in irritation.

Alfred opened his mouth to argue but snapped it shut again when Gilbert raised his eyebrow knowingly at him. He huffed and crossed his arms across his chest and looked away quickly.

"We do have one more problem to deal with about this arrangement," Arthur said into the silence. "Freshman aren't allowed to live off campus unless they're living at home or it's ok'd by parents. I'm fairly certain Alfred's mom will never allow him to stay with strangers off campus in a sketchy part of town no matter how awesome the place might be."

Alfred sighed. Arthur was right. His mother would never allow it. He might be able to sweet talk Richard into talking her into allowing it but not until after the bruises healed.

"I have a favor I can call in," Francis said. "I know someone in the housing department that can make that little problem disappear for the right...price..."

It was clear from the soft lilt in his voice and the way Arthur rolled his eyes what sort of price he was talking about. Alfred was aghast at the mere thought of Francis doing something like that for him. For doing something like that at all. He quickly tried to dissuade Francis from this line of thought.

"No, no, no, you don't have to do that..." he insisted hurriedly.

"Trust me, Alfred," Francis said with a grin and a wink. "It's no hardship calling in this favor."

"Now that that's all settled," Arthur said with another roll of his eyes. "I'm going to have to ask you all to leave. I have work to do and an early class tomorrow."

Matthew jostled Alfred into a standing position and nudged him with his elbow when he still stood rooted to one spot as the others filed out of the room.

"Come on Al," he said in his bright voice. "We'll get your stuff and then I owe you some hamburgers."

Alfred cheered up a little at that. Food was always something that cheered him up no matter how down he was. He enjoyed it a little too much. He'd been struggling with his weight since the accident and he wasn't able to work out as much as he used to. He didn't think he looked bad with a little extra weight around the middle but he definitely didn't think he looked as good as he had before the accident. The weight, the glasses and the scars that lingered in places made him feel self-conscious from time to time though he tried not to dwell on it too much. Right now though he didn't think about the extra weight or anything like that. He was hungry and he needed comfort food in the worst way. His brother knew that too. Matthew had always been a huge enabler.

He passed Gilbert as he stopped by the door to his old dorm and slid the key towards the lock to open it. He wasn't thinking much about the other man until he felt breath against his ear.

"You're gonna owe me for this, Kid," Gilbert breathed into his ear.

The words could have been menacing but the tone was light and teasing. Alfred gulped and missed the lock knocking his key against the wood of the door gouging it. The words weren't a threat but he still didn't like the sound of them. He glanced over at Gilbert who smirked widely at him as he stepped back a half step.

Yeah...definitely didn't like the sound of them.

* * *

TBC


	8. I Kissed a Boy (Part 8)

"So do you have it?" Francis asked.

They were settled around the kitchen island. Francis had a glass of wine, Gilbert a beer and Antonio a cup of coffee because he was off to visit his sister after they were done and she would kick his ass if she smelled alcohol on his breath. None of the others blamed him for playing it safe. Ana was scary as hell when she wanted to be. She knew very well what Antonio got up to but so long as he pretended to respectful in front of her she'd turn a blind eye.

"Yeah," Gilbert said reaching into his backpack and pulling out a loose piece of paper and slapping it into the middle of the table. "Arthur gave it to me before we left. I think he got it from Matthew."

"Did Alfred see him do it?' Antonio asked.

"Nah," Gilbert said with a shake of his head. "He was too busy being fussed over by his brother..."

He shuddered as he remembered his encounter with Matthew. Talk about scary as hell siblings. He made a mental note to never ever get on that kid's bad side again. He'd almost been afraid he wouldn't make it would of that verbal scathing alive. He had practically felt his skin starting to be peeled off of him the longer the tirade went on.

"I like that boy!" Francis chirped cheerfully.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. Of course Francis would like Matthew. He wouldn't mind getting berated like a four year old if it meant he could get some hot tail as a result.

"You would," he muttered.

"Do you think he likes men?" Francis mulled over in his mind. "Alfred clearly does but...how does that work with twins I wonder..."

"You'll just have to ask Alfred," Antonio said with a wide smile.

"Maybe I will when he wakes up," Francis said with that twinkle in his eyes that always came at the thought of a new conquest.

"Francis..." Gilbert said tightly. "No! You can't just ask Alfred something like that!"

"But..." Francis said with a slight pout.

"And you can't pursue his brother either!" Gilbert snapped tiredly. "He's too young for the likes of you!"

"You mean like dear Alfred is too young for you?" Francis lobbed back hotly. He seemed to instantly regret it and he held up his hands in an apologetic manner.

"Yeah...exactly," Gilbert said wearily. "We've seen what sort of mess I've gotten both of us into because of that. Do you really want to deal with that too?"

Francis frowned at that and Gilbert sighed. He glanced across the room towards the hall that lead to the bedrooms. Alfred had gone directly to Gilbert's room after they'd arrived. He'd mumbled something about a nap. Gilbert hopped maybe he'd just sleep the whole night. He'd had a rough day and had been looking a little green around the gills.

That might have just been the three hamburgers, three milk shakes and the basket of fries the kid had put away at dinner. Gilbert liked eating as much as anyone but the sight of the kid practically inhaling his food had made him a little green around the gills too. Arthur had muttered something about comfort eating in an embarrassed tone but he hadn't made any move to stop the boy once he got going. Matthew had been out right encouraging Alfred and had even ordered the the third burger while Alfred had been in the bathroom. They were a weird family and Gilbert knew something about weird families.

He glanced back at Francis who had turned his attention to the piece of paper on the table between them. The crisis of him trying to pursue Alfred's brother seemed to have been averted...momentarily at least. He leaned forward and tried to make out what was written on page.

"Fuck," Antonio said making a face that was pure grimace as he looked over the page. "How does he even manage this schedule...it's horrific."

Gilbert moved it so he could get a better look at it and grimaced himself. Alfred's schedule was packed with classes, labs, study sessions and in careful notes at the bottom of each day was a list of clubs that Alfred apparently was taking part in as well. It was all written down in neat, precise handwriting. It was way too detailed and if Gilbert wasn't terrified at the prospect of another tongue lashing he might have told Matthew to his face that he was a little bit creepy as fuck when it came to keeping track of his brother.

"Didn't anyone tell him he doesn't have to do "all the things" in his first semester?" Francs asked rubbing at his forehead.

"He's a smart bastard," Gilbert muttered. "Not a single one of these classes is an introductory one."

He felt the gulf between him an Alfred grow even wider. He had always considered himself to be smart. Definitely smarter the then majority of the people he'd run into over the course of his life. But Alfred...Alfred was way out of his league.

"Not so smart has to have avoided all of this," Francis pointed out. "He's book smart but he's definitely been sheltered his entire life. Even before the accident I'd wager. He strikes me as small town boy through and through."

"Well," Antonio said with a grin. "He's in our company now, we'll just have to wisen him up with some street smarts lessons."

"Guys," Gilbert snapped rubbing at his forehead. "Concentrate will you! We need to figure this out before tomorrow. Percy and his cohorts are sure to be waiting for him again first thing."

He felt Francis and Antonio exchange a glance over the top of his head. He didn't bother looking up he wanted to get this done so he could go out for a ride. He needed to get away from here for a bit. Needed to clear his head and just forget everything for a while.

He reached down into his bag and pulled out another sheet of paper. His own schedule which was covered in his messy heavy scrawl. Francis and Antonio followed his lead and pulled out their own schedules. Francis also pulled out a blank schedule form he must have picked up at the beginning of the year. Gilbert looked over all the schedules his mind working quickly at a glance he felt they could mesh all four schedules so that no one would have to miss any classes. He knew the others didn't work nearly so quickly though so he pulled himself back and went over things at a slower rate.

"Well first off we can discount any fraternity activities on this list," he said deciding to start with the activities first since they were less likely to cause major conflict. He took out his pen and crossing them off with great relish. He knew he was messing up something they were supposed to be returning but doing something to irritate Matthew felt good. It was petty but it was what it was.

"That cuts back on some of the load at least," Francis said after looking at the new lay of the land. "He's not in any sports so that's also helpful. He's in the Astronomy Club though and I know they go on a lot of field trips. We should check the club roster to see if there's any potential dangers in it. If there's not he should probably be pretty safe there without any of us present."

Gilbert opened his mouth to argue against that but was cut off my Francis' knowing smirk. He frowned and crossed his arms across his chest and let Francis finish.

"Lukas is in that club," Francis explained. "He owes me a favor for taking a certain annoying brute off his hands over the summer and he's scary enough that no one will mess with Alfred if he's on guard duty."

Gilbert frowned but after a moment's thought conceded Francis' point with a nod. Lukas might be small but he was terrifying and would definitely get the job done if needed. He also had his teammates from the hockey team (including the aforementioned annoying brute) he could call in if needed. He turned his attention back to the next club on the list.

"Chess club," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Of course he's in the chess club."

"Could be worse," Antonio said breezily. "It could be the Math Club."

Gilbert would have rather it been the math club. He was good at math but while he thought chess was interesting but he wasn't very good at it. It took far too much patience which he lacked a good amount of the time. "They meet on the nights I'm free so I'll take that," he said with a heavy sigh.

"Maybe you'll learn something about being subtle in battle," Francis teased with a glimmer in his eyes.

"What's this one," Antonio pointed to one listed underneath the chess club. "CB club..."

Gilbert frowned and shook his head. He had no idea what that one might be. It had a star next to it like the astronomy and chess clubs had but which none of the others had. Gilbert took that to mean they were the most important clubs on the list. Then he remembered the destroyed dorm room and all the things he'd seem tossed about on the floor. There was one thing that had been more prevalent then anything else.

"Comic Book club maybe?" he murmured his hand already reaching into his bag to pull out his laptop.

"There's a Comic Book club?" Antonio said in irritated confusion. "Why didn't I know about this? I totally would have joined if I known it existed!"

Francis shrugged his shoulders and they both waited for Gilbert to pull up the university website and click over to the club section. The scrolled through to the Cs and sure enough there was a Comic Book club listed there. He frowned and clicked on the link.

"Looks like it was just started up this year and..." he blinked and leaned closer to the screen. "What the hell..."

"What is it?" Antonio asked curiously leaning forward to try and read Gilbert's screen upside down.

"Guess who founded the stupid thing?" he bit out with a roll of his eyes.

"From the expression on your face I'm going to guess Alfred?" Francis said with a s grin.

"Really?" Antonio said almost falling off his stool but righting himself at the last second. "That's so cool! Why have we never thought about starting a club before?"

"That stupid idiot," Gilbert muttered to himself. "His schedule is packed with crap already and he goes and starts a club? He's only been here like 2 months...I didn't think they even allowed Freshies to start clubs."

"Maybe he has a co-founder," Francis said "Someone who's older?"

Gilbert frowned and looked at the list of founders. Besides Alfred there was Matthew and some kid named Kiku Honda that Gilbert vaguely remembered Arthur mentioning on Friday night. Speaking of Arthur he was the fourth name on the list. That explained how they'd managed to get the club formed.

"Arthur," he said with a huff.

"Does he even know how to read stuff just for fun?" Antonio asked incredulously. "He's always toting around those massive books with authors who have been dead for hundreds of years."

"There's nothing wrong with the classics Antonio," Francis said with a sniff.

"Of course there isn't," Antonio said breezily. "However there is something wrong when that's the only thing you ever read."

Francis had no argument for that. Gilbert only vaguely listened to their argument. He was distracted by trying to convince himself that calling Arthur up and ranting at him about letting Alfred do way too much his first semester at school was not a good idea. He shook his head. Arthur probably didn't know how bad things were. He hadn't had Alfred's schedule so he probably didn't keep track. Gilbert had the feeling that despite the strained relationship that if Arthur knew how hard Alfred was working himself he wouldn't allow it to continue. He looked back down at the schedule there were three other clubs on the list. The ones that didn't have stars next to them. He wondered if he could convince the others to claim that there were schedule conflicts to try and get Alfred to quit them.

He rubbed his forehead and snapped his laptop shut. It wasn't his concern if Alfred was working himself to the bone. Everyone made mistakes their first semester of college it was just the way things were and Alfred needed to make them for himself.

"I'll take the Comic Book club!" Antonio said his cheerful voice breaking through Gilbert's thoughts.

"No I don't think so," Francis said sternly. "I'll take it."

"No," Antonio said with a shake of his head. "I will."

"I'm the art major," Francis pointed out with a slight growl. "It makes the most sense that I take it."

"What do your stuffy old paintings have to do with comic books?" Antonio teased back.

"Stop that you two!" Gilbert growled. His head was definitely starting to pound. "We're all free that night so we all can join it if we want to!"

They glared at him and then glared at each other but he knew they'd gotten the point. He turned his attention to the schedule still sitting in front of him.

"Come on let's get this done already," he said.

He grabbed his pen and set quickly to work. There were relatively little arguments as they figured out the rest of the schedule. Thankfully there were no major holes that would cause anyone to have to miss any classes. He made a mental note to get Alfred's schedule for the next semester. They could plan this up in advance just in case it was needed and maybe he could convince the kid to drop some unneeded classes in advance.

He shook his head and sighed at himself. He was doing it again. He didn't care about Alfred. He didn't care what he did beyond the fact that he not get himself grabbed by Percy or the others. That was his only concern.

"There...done," he said dropping his pen onto the table and pushing the schedule away from him.

"Hey guys."

Gilbert jumped and turned and glared at the boy standing at the entrance of the kitchen. It was a little disconcerting how quietly the boy could walk. He still looked exhausted and ragged around the edges. Some of the bruises did seem to be starting to fade a bit though. They were still angry looking but perhaps a bit less so.

"You're up!" Antonio said brightly. "Did you have a nice nap?"

Alfred shrugged his shoulders and let his eyes slid almost nervously away from the group. Gilbert wondered if he'd had nightmares. That would explain the haunted look the kid was currently wearing He'd seen that look staring back at him from the mirror on more mornings then he could count.

"Are there any leftovers in the fridge?" Alfred asked seeming to be looking for a distraction he moved across the room. "I'm starving!"

Gilbert huffed and felt a little sick. How could he possibly be hungry again? It had only been a few hours since he'd eaten enough for three people. Alfred stopped his advance towards the fridge to stuff himself with even more food as he passed the table and caught sight of all the papers on it.

"Whatcha ya'll working on?"

Gilbert blinked momentarily distracted by the sleepy accent that popped out in Alfred's voice. It was soft and subtle like it had come from a place he hadn't been in a while. Then a split second too late he remembered what they were working on and that Alfred was not supposed to find out what they were doing until the morning and he couldn't put up a big fuss about it. He scrambled to grab the papers off the table. Francis and Antonio followed his lead. But it all proved too late as Alfred ,who was probably made even more curious by their reaction to him seeing what they were working on, had a half second head start on them and managed to grab the middle sheet of paper before they could. His brow creased in confusion as he registered what he was looking at.

"Is this my schedule?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," Gilbert said. There was no point in denying it. He set the rest of the papers back down on the table. "Your brother gave it to us."

"He made this after I Rushed," Alfred said with a frown. "He was trying to point out how insane he thought my schedule was. Why do you have it?"

Apparently Matthew wasn't as creepy as fuck as he'd thought and had an actual brain in his head. Gilbert huffed. He didn't want to like Alfred's brother. He might not be creepy but he still was obviously crazy.

"Because we're trying to coordinate it with ours," Antonio said with unthinking ease.

Then he slid the schedule they'd just completed towards Alfred who took it gingerly. It was a color coordinated affair, red for Alfred, white for Gilbert, blue for Francis and yellow for Antonio. Antonio had just really wanted to use his highlighters but Gilbert had to admit it would make things easier when you could just glance at the schedule and know who needed to go where and when.

"What...why would you do this?" Alfred said his brow creasing in confusion.

"We had to make sure you were completely covered," Francis explained. "This way we know who is to take you to your classes and accompany you to your clubs."

"What!" Alfred's eyes widened as his head jerked up in shock his breath sounded a touch erratic. "I don't need...why..."

"Why do you think?" Gilbert snapped and his voice was a lot harsher then he had intended it to be. But he was at the end of his rope. How could someone so smart still be so naive and stupid? "Do you honestly think that today will be the only time that Percy and his goons try to corner you?'

"Gilbert..." Francis tried to interject and cut him off with a tight voice.

But Gilbert was too far gone into his argument though could not stop even if he wanted to. He continued heedlessly with his tirade. "They're going to keep going after you until they get what they want!" Gilbert snapped. He regretted it immediately. Alfred's face went pale and he grabbed blindly at the edge of the table.

"Gilbert, enough!" Francis barked. "He gets the point!"

"Does he really though?"Gilbert bit off turning to face his friend. "Because I don't think he gets the point otherwise he'd stop insisting on questioning us every step of the way when we're only trying to help him. If he did understand what Percy has in mind for him he wouldn't..."

He trailed off cold as he turned back to glare at Alfred. Alfred's face had gone completely white and his whole body was shaking in thick painfully looking waves which caused him to struggle for each breath. His eyes were glassy and distant. Gilbert shot up off of his chair and bolted across the short distance to where Alfred was standing. Francis moved just as quickly and had the stool out and ready for Gilbert to force Alfred into a sitting position on. He continued to push down dipping the younger boy's head between his legs.

"Alfred..." he said softly in a pained voice. He felt like a complete monster but now was not the time for him to be thinking of himself. They had to concentrate on Alfred. "Breath...deep breaths...just breath..."

Francis rubbed Alfred's back murmuring much the same thing. Antonio rushed to get some water. Gilbert crouched down next to the chair, his hand resting against the base of Alfred's neck, fingers dipping into soft hair at the nape rubbing gently.

"It's alright Alfred," he said softly. "You're alright. You're safe...we've got you..."

"We're not going to let anything happen to you," Francis added gently. "You're not alone, we're here with you."

Finally after what seemed like a life time Alfred let out a strained gasp of air that trailed off at the end into the whimper. His breathing seemed to grow easier after that and the color returned to his face. Gilbert kept up his murmuring and rubbing waiting until Alfred gave the sign that he was ready to sit up again.

"Easy," Francis said as he continued to rub Alfred's back as the boy sat up.

He was shivering violently now but his breathing had returned to a more normal pace and his eyes looked clearer. He turned his head slightly to look down at Gilbert who rose to his feet as slowly and nonthreatening as he could.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," Alfred repeated in a choked raspy voice.

Francis stopped rubbing his back and moved out of the way to allow Antonio to join the group with the glass of water he'd gotten. Gilbert took the glass from Antonio and he moved off to join Francis just out of their line of sight. They were both being mindful not to overcrowd Alfred. They'd been through this sort of thing before with Gilbert and knew how to read the signs of what was needed.

"Do you think you can drink some water, Alfred?" Gilbert asked gently.

Alfred seemed to consider this for a long moment and then nodded his head. Gilbert held out the glass towards him and Alfred lifted his hand to grasp it. The glass shook so much that Gilbert reached out and steadied it just enough that Alfred was able to take a few sips of water. Gilbert was relieved to see he had only taken a couple before lowering the glass again instead of trying to drink it all. Something told Gilbert that this wasn't the first time Alfred had dealt with this either.

"Sor...sorry..." Alfred mumbled shakily after a moment.

"You've nothing to be sorry about," Gilbert murmured back.

"I just get...sometimes I have..." Alfred flailed his hands about as if he was trying hard to remember something that he couldn't quiet grasp in his current state of mind.

"Panic attacks?" Gilbert supplied reaching out to gently grab Alfred's hands to still them.

Alfred stared at their joined hands with great intensity. It was just the distraction that Gilbert was hoping it would be. Finally after a long moment he nodded his head.

"Yes," he said removing his hand from Gilbert's so he could take a few more drinks this time with a much steadier hand. "Panic attacks...I get them sometimes...have since the accident."

"Traumatic events can trigger them sometimes," Gilbert said softly. "Even if you've never been predisposed to them before. I get them myself...sometimes..."

"Really?" Alfred asked softly he looked relieved almost. Probably to find out he wasn't the only person to suffer from something like this.

"Yeah," Gilbert said softly. "I have some tricks that I've learned that can sometimes stop them before they happen...I can teach them to you. When you're feeling up to it."

"Thank you," Alfred said in a very soft voice. He glanced up over at the other two who were huddled near the door to the terrace. "You guys can come back," he said. "I'm okay now."

Gilbert stayed where he was as the others came over. Alfred shivered slightly when they got too near but he took a deep breath and sent them a shaky smile. They held back slightly settling themselves on the opposite side of the island from Alfred. Alfred watched them with wary eyes and then bent down and picked up the papers that had fallen out of his hand during his panic attack.

"So do I...need to drop anything to make this work?" he asked tentatively after a long moment of silence.

"You could stand to drop a few things," Gilbert couldn't stop himself from muttering.

"Your schedule is insane man," Antonio slipped in quickly.

Francis sighed and shook his head at them both. "You don't need to drop anything because of us," he said softly. "We can keep up with you."

"You guys sound like Matthew," Alfred said with a frown. "He thinks I've shoved too much into my first semester. So far it's been okay though..."

Gilbert grimaced at being compared to Matthew. That was the very last thing he wanted for a variety of reasons. Some of the reasons were ones that he did not want to admit to thinking. Even to himself.

"We covered astronomy, chess and your comic book club," Gilbert said mostly to distract himself. "They seemed like they'd be the most important to you given your brothers notes...the others we can cover but...you really should think about dropping something Alfred," he said honestly. "It might seem okay now but come the end of the semester when you're up to your ears in papers and finals it might not be so good..."

"I guess I can drop them..." Alfred said with a frown. "If only to make things easier on you guys."

"Don't do it for us," Gilbert insisted. "Do it because you want to. If you think you can handle this load then fine you can handle it and so can we."

"Nah," Alfred said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just signed up for a lot of stuff when school started for the hell of it. I didn't know if I was going to get into the..." he shuddered slightly and seemed to quickly decide to not go there. "I didn't know what I'd be doing. I...I don't like to leave myself too much free time. If I have too much free time I tend to think about...stuff..."

Gilbert frowned. He knew what that was like. Not wanting to sit there and think about bad things that had happened to you in the past. Alfred must have a lot of things that he didn't want to think about. He'd almost died. Oh he hadn't come out and said as much but from the bits and pieces that he'd gathered and the fact that most people riding a bicycle that got hit by a car didn't usually make it through he'd made the logical jump to that conclusion. He couldn't blame the kid for wanting to keep bad thoughts at bay. It wasn't healthy but it was coping ability he had become quite acquainted with over the past few years.

Alfred quickly seemed to not want to think about it and moved on to a different train of thought. Though the only other train of thought he had to think about wasn't much better.

"How long..." Alfred started and then he sighed seeming to force himself ahead with the train of thought he didn't want to. "How long do you think Percy is going to keep this up?"

Gilbert exchanged a look with the other two over and sighed. "Do you want an honest answer?" he asked.

"Yeah," Alfred said with a nod though it looked like he'd much rather a lie.

"It's going to be a while, it could take a long while," Gilbert said. "To be completely honest the things we're doing to keep him away...will probably just antagonize him more but...to not do it..."

"Would leave me a sitting duck?" Alfred finished with a shiver.

"Yeah," Gilbert said with a frown. "I won't let that happen though. I won't let anything happen to you."

Silence stretched over the room for a long moment. It wasn't necessarily and uncomfortable one but it wasn't fully comfortable either.

"I'm sorry..." Alfred said after a long moment. "For being so stubborn about all of this," he said waving his hand at the table. "I know you're just trying to help but I...I just hate being a bother to people."

"You're not bothering us..." Gilbert snapped in irritation and then took a deep breath to calm himself. "You're not bother me," he said in a softer tone. "This is partially my fault...mostly my fault."

Alfred opened his mouth seeming ready to argue but then he shut it and just shook his head and laughed shakily instead. "We seem to have this conversation an awful lot," he said.

Gilbert bit out a dry laugh and nodded his head. "Yeah, so we do," he admitted. "We need to come up with something new to argue about."

Alfred gave him an answering nod and seemed to consider it as he sipped his water. His hand was still shaking but he seemed better overall. Gilbert knew it would take him the rest of the night to recover from an attack that bad but the danger of falling into a second one right away seemed past. Sensing that Antonio dumped his coffee cup into the sink and made started straightening himself out.

"Sorry guys," he said as Francis helped smooth his shirt out. "I better get going I want to stop downstairs and pick Ana up some flowers."

He made his goodbyes and as he left he slid into a suit jacket. Gilbert eyed him suspiciously as the door shut behind him. He turned to Francis and pinned him with a look.

"Are you sure he's just going to see Ana?" he asked after a moment. "He was dressed pretty fancy for a family dinner."

Francis shrugged his shoulders as he rinsed out his wine glass. "He's been talking about meeting Ana for dinner tonight since last week. Maybe he did something that he thinks is going to get him in trouble?"

"He hasn't mentioned anything," Gilbert said screwing his face up in thought. "Usually he moans for days if he thinks he's going to get yelled at or hit upside the head for something he's done. She shouldn't know about..." Gilbert trailed off and slid a glance over at Alfred hoping to not draw Alfred's attention to the fact that he was being talked about. Alfred wasn't paying them any attention but Francis seemed to understand what he was trying to say even without words. "Unless he told her..."

"Whose Ana?" Alfred asked suddenly. He seemed to be a bit slow at the moment or else just decided a little late to latch onto something he could use as a distraction from the thoughts in his head.

"His sister," Gilbert said. "She's almost as scary as your brother."

"Mattie's not scary..." Alfred insisted. Gilbert snorted and Alfred shrugged his shoulders and sent him a lopsided grin. "Okay I guess he's a little scary. He's just...over protective. I have a history of getting into trouble he...feels he has to take care of me. And after the accident...well..." he flailed a little bit and shrugged his shoulders.

Gilbert huffed and turned his head. He knew about over protective brothers though he supposed in his case he was the over protective brother instead of being on the receiving end of it. Just one more thing that aligned him with Matthew. Again he didn't think he liked that.

Francis cleared his throat and raised a knowing eyebrow at Gilbert. Gilbert huffed again and stuck his tongue out. Francis crossed the room and gently ruffled Alfred's hair.

"I've got some homework I need to get done before tomorrow," he said sounding a little apologetic. "If you need anything I'm just in the other room."

Alfred nodded and Gilbert felt himself glaring at Francis. He quickly stopped himself and inwardly berated himself for such silly behavior. Francis gave him one more long look and Gilbert knew he was being told to take care of Alfred. He rolled his eyes in response but that appeared to be enough for Francis and he left the room. Alfred sat on the stool staring down at his schedule and picking at his pants. After a long moment Gilbert cleared his throat softly.

"Are you really still hungry?" he asked.

"Nah," Alfred said with a shake of his head. "I just eat when I get...nervous..."

Gilbert nodded his head a little relieved that he wasn't actually hungry. He stood and rubbed his hands on his jeans. He was a little at a loss over what he should do next. He'd always been the one sitting where Alfred was in these situations never the other way around. He glanced around the room and settled on something that might work.

"Did you want to go back and lay down?" he asked gently. "You must be tired."

"No," Alfred said a bit too quickly with a shake of his head. "Can I stay out here with you for a while? I promise I won't be in the way..."

Gilbert was almost positive now that Alfred must have had a nightmare that had set off this whole event.

"Sure," he said with a shrug. "I have some homework but we can watch something while I do it if you'd like. Maybe we can find another horrible movie on Netflix to watch."

The thought seemed to cheer Alfred up. He curled up on the couch and flicked through the selection while Gilbert gathered his books. When he got back they argued a little bit about what the worst option might be and then settled into silence to watch and work.

Alfred was fast asleep before they got anywhere near the halfway point of the movie.

Gilbert let him sleep content to have his breathing at his back while he worked. He was a little shocked at how easily he could picture himself getting used to spending his night like things.

He was even more shocked that the thought of how easy he could get used to it didn't seem to bother him at all.

* * *

TBC

Ana = Portugal

Lukas = Norway

Annoying Brute = Denmark

And a quick note on pairings in this fic. Other then the main pairing I've only settled on one pairing that will for sure be happening in the fic at this point. One half of that pairing has not yet appeared or even been mentioned yet. Though perhaps the more eagle eyed readers out there can figure it out based on some clues that have already appeared in the fic. ;-)


	9. I Kissed a Boy (Part 9)

Alfred was staring up at the massive displays of paint samples looking more then a little overwhelmed.

Gilbert watched the younger boy with a smirk. He hadn't told him where they were going until they'd arrived at the hardware store Wednesday after classes. The other boy had looked at him in confusion that had turned to horror and dread when Gilbert had told him he could choose any sort of paints he wanted. Why he was so flustered about this Gilbert didn't know but it was a rather endearing look on the kid. A couple of weeks had passed since the other boy had moved into the apartment with him. The bruises had faded enough that Alfred now felt comfortable going out beyond the campus. Gilbert still thought he was being overly cautions he knew that they would garner attention but no one would bother to come up and question it.

This town sucked balls in so many ways.

"Why are we here again?" Alfred asked for the thousandth time since they'd arrived in the paint department.

"Because my back can't handle the couch anymore and wants my bed back," Gilbert snarked by way of explanation.

"I can sleep on the couch..." Alfred offered for what must have been the millionth time. "I'm not sore anymore."

Gilbert knew this was a lie. The kid might not be sore from the attack anymore but he had a lot of other aches and pains which seemed to be a combination of his intense class load, lingering injuries from his accident and just not taking very good care of himself. He wasn't about to make the boy sleep on the couch which was comfortable enough to begin with but after a while felt as hard as a rock.

"If we finish up your room it won't be necessary," Gilbert pointed out mildly for what was also the millionth time.

"So we can finish it up this weekend," Alfred said with a frown. "You have paint and stuff in there I've seen it."

"That was paint for when the room was going to be a game room," Gilbert said feeling irritation growing he knew where this argument was going.

"That's fine," Alfred said. "Just paint it how you were going to, it doesn't bother me."

"Alfred," Gilbert said in a controlled voice. "We've been over this. Everyone gets to decorate their rooms as they see fit."

"Yes but...it's not really my room," Alfred pointed out. "I'm just a guest..."

"Alfred I swear to god..." Gilbert said with a growl. "We've told you a hundred million times you are a roommate with the same privileges as everyone else in the house."

"But I'm not!" Alfred insisted quietly. "I'm not really a roommate because I'm not paying rent."

"So then pay the damn rent," Gilbert growled in irritation.

"I can't afford it right now..." Alfred said in a small voice the deep frown on his face making his remaining bruises look even angrier.

"So then don't pay the damn rent!" Gilbert snapped running a hand through his hair and glared hard at Alfred. "No one is asking you too!"

"I was going to say..." Alfred snapped back at him with a huff. "Is that I can't do it now but as soon as I can get a job I will start paying rent and I can pay back any back rent I owe you guys...'

"Alfred..." Gilbert said with a heavy sigh. "If you want to find a job at some point and start paying rent that's fine you can do that if it makes you feel better but we're never going to charge you back rent for the time that you're not able to pay it."

"But..."

"It's my fault that you no longer have a dorm room to call home," Gilbert said quietly.

"You know that's not fully true..." Alfred pointed out.

"Stop it!" Gilbert said crossing over and grabbing Alfred by the arm.

Thankfully the paint department was empty save for the sole employee by the paint mixing machine which was going about it's business in a loud fashion covering up their ongoing argument. Still he took a calming breath and dropped his hand from the other boy's shoulder and lowered his voice. Alfred was regarding him with wide startled eyes but Gilbert was relieved to see there was no real fear in them.

"I don't want to have this argument again," Gilbert said after a moment to take another calming breath. "I'm really tired of having this argument."

Alfred frowned again and sighed softly. "I'm sorry," he said in a small voice. "I don't mean to be annoying I just...I really hate feeling like a burden to people."

"You're not being a burden!" Gilbert said with a glare then he smirked. "Actually you are being a burden but only because you keep insisting to make such a big deal out of this."

"I'm sorry..." Alfred said and his shoulders fell slightly.

"I'm teasing you idiot!" Gilbert said with a huff. "But seriously you've seen the neighborhood the apartment is in trust me when I say the rent is not that high on the place and even if it was...neither myself, Francis, or Antonio are lacking in funds."

"I thought that Antonio's family were all teachers..." Alfred said with a frown.

"They are but his father comes from old money..." Gilbert said with a dismissive wave. "Like conquistador gold old money or some such nonsense like that."

"Oh," Alfred said with an incredulous look in Gilbert's direction.

"Trust me kid," Gilbert said softly. "It's not a big deal if you choose some paint colors and furniture."

"Furniture?" Alfred asked with wide horrified eyes.

Gilbert sighed wearily and reminded himself why he wasn't going to tell Alfred about the trip to IKEA he had planned for after they were done with the hardware store. He shrugged his shoulders, the kid needed a bed and a desk there was no way around that and he would have to see that was an absolute truth. He took a half step closer to Alfred and brought his hand up to his shoulder this time it was a gentle touch. This close he could see how absolutely blue Alfred's eyes were. He tried to concentrate on a spot over Alfred's shoulder and ignore that new fact.

"It's fine Alfred," Gilbert said softly. "Money really isn't an issue here. My family has so much that it won't even be missed."

That wasn't really the truth. His father would notice every penny that was missing and Gilbert would be subjected to a very intense lecture about his spending habits the next time his father deigned to visit or he'd been summoned home. But Alfred didn't need to know that. Alfred sighed and shook his head.

"I just...I don't know..."

Gilbert sighed rolled his eyes in an over dramatic fashion. Leave it to him to get saddled with the one person on the planet whose moral compass wouldn't allow him to run wild when presented with a no-price tag shopping excursion. He wrapped his hand around Alfred's arm and gently pulled him back towards the walls of pain samples.

"Come on Al," he said in a lightly teasing manner. "Surely there's been something you've wanted to do with your walls that you've never been able due to time or money or energy or something? Well now's your chance to do that. No questions asked, no boundaries, money is not a problem, absolutely anything you want to do is fine.

That got the reaction he wanted. Alfred's eyes turned impossibly wide as he stared at the colors in front of him. He shuffled forward towards the bluey/black end of the color scale his hand brushing up against one. Then he turned on his heel and hurried away. Gilbert sighed and dropped his head this kid was more stubborn then even he guessed. He turned his head to see where Alfred had gotten to only to discover he was talking excitedly to the guy behind the paint counter. The guy looked at him blankly for a moment and then a grin crossed his face and he nodded his head and stepped out from behind the counter and the two headed off down one of the aisles.

Ten minutes later Alfred returned to the color wall. He was clutching a couple of cans in his hand which he tried to juggle as he filtered through the bluey/black samples once more. Gilbert reached out and snagged the cans reading the print on them wondering what had gotten Alfred so excited.

"Is this stuff to create glow in the dark paint?" he asked in surprise.

"You said I could do anything I want," Alfred said with an embarrassed shrug.

"Just curious," Gilbert said with a slight grin. "What's your plan?"

"You'll just have to wait until it's finished," Alfred said reaching forward to grab a couple of samples of a dark inky color. "I'm not sure if this is actually going to work or not..."

Alfred turned his attention fully to his paint samples switching back and forth between them and occasionally grabbing different samples and comparing them. Gilbert shoved his hands into the pocket of his jeans and smirked when he was sure that Alfred was not looking at him. He felt and odd satisfaction and being able to finally convince the stubborn boy to take him up on the offer of free room and board. He didn't think that Antonio or Francis would have managed to do it so quickly. That had to mean that things would only get easier from there.

As he watched Alfred pick up yet another paint sample he sighed and laughed inwardly at himself. Somehow he had a feeling that things would only get much more irritating before they got any easier.

* * *

"So..."

Gilbert said rather awkwardly a few hours later. They were sitting in the eatery at the IKEA. Gilbert had wanted to go someplace that was more of a real restaurant but Alfred had insisted on it and since he hadn't thrown one new fit about Gilbert dragging him here to spend money on him Gilbert had relented. Now he was regretting it as he watched Alfred dig into the food in front of him with his usual gusto. Gilbert sipped his drink and picked at his food, it was good it just wasn't want he had been in the mood for, and tried not to watch in horror as Alfred demolished his plate.

"So?" Alfred echoed after taking a huge sip of soda to clear the food from his throat.

"Where..." Gilbert said searching for some topic of conversation that seemed safe and impartial and not at all like he was digging for the kid's back story. He inwardly shrugged his shoulders and decided to just dig. "Where did you live before coming here? Sometimes I think I catch a bit of an accent but not always."

"Oh that," Alfred chuckled and took another sip of his drink. "I was born in Texas, we lived in San Antonio until I was ten and my parents split up. My dad still lives there we go back a few times a year. He has a new family now..." Alfred trailed off and Gilbert was surprised to see there was no bitterness in Alfred's voice. "We're close but we just don't get down there to see them very often because they all run in the rodeo circuit and travel a ton."

"Ah..." Gilbert said for lack of anything better to say.

"Oh man..." Alfred said with a wide grin. "Have you ever been to a rodeo?"

"No," Gilbert said with a shake of his and wry grin. "Can't say that I have."

"You'll have to come with me next time I go out! It's so awesome!" Alfred said gleefully and he was actually bouncing in his seat. "Even Mattie loves it and Mattie doesn't love much of anything that doesn't involve ice rinks or shooting hockey pucks at people's heads!"

"It does sound...interesting..." Gilbert trailed off awkwardly.

He wasn't sure if he really thought it was interesting but he did kind of want to more about something Alfred was clearly so passionate about. He'd been born and raised in New York City and he was through and through a city boy. He had gone horseback riding, mostly on the horse ranch that Antonio's family owned, but he wouldn't say he was a natural on a horse or anything. He'd much rather stick to steel and leather and purring engines.

"It's completely awesome! You definitely need to come see one sometime!" Alfred buzzed in happiness.

"I'd like that," Gilbert said after a moment and was shocked to discover that he actually meant it.

"When I was a kid I idolized my father so much!" Alfred beamed. "I still do he's really cool!"

Gilbert blinked again thinking of his hard, cold old man sitting up in his ivory tower in Manhattan and wondered what it would be like to be close with him. He shook his head he didn't want to think about what he would have to become to be someone his father would voluntarily want to hang out with. If he was lucky he would never know what it was like to be close to the bastard and neither would Ludwig.

"When I was a kid..." Alfred was still rambling unaware of Gilbert's shifting focus. "I wanted to ride the broncos or maybe be a trick rider or even a rodeo clown that would be awesome too! Then they split up and we moved to the DC area with my mom and I got out of the circuit. I still loved to ride but I guess I moved on to other interests. I suppose it's a good thing..." he trailed off again and rubbed distractedly at his head staring off into the distance. "I wouldn't be able to do it anymore now."

Gilbert frowned and wondered if he should direct the conversation to a different tract but Alfred seemed content to do it himself. Apparently once you got the boy off and running in a conversation he did not want to shut up. Gilbert would need to remember that in the future. Not that he minded really. It was nice seeing the boy smile and his eyes were pretty when they were sparkling and happy.

Not that he was paying attention to that in the slightest.

"So when I was ten we moved to the suburbs of DC, the ones on the Virginia side," Alfred said by way of an explanation. "Mom's a journalist and she got a line on a good job after the divorce now she's part of the White House press core!"

"Wow, impressive!" Gilbert said with a wide smile.

"Yeah my family's pretty awesome," Alfred said with a happy smile.

"Arthur's family, his brothers and his father and him, moved onto our block after we'd been there for like a year so I must have been 11 and him 13 when I first met him," Alfred scrunched his head up and thought about it. "His dad works at the UK Embassy not the actual Ambassador or anything like that but he's one of the big wigs...Richard's really awesome too!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and wondered at the amount of awesome people Alfred knew. He really did seem to have had a rather happy idyllic life despite the hardships he had also encountered.

"Arthur didn't want to be friends at first because we were younger then him and he likes to think himself...important..." Gilbert snorted at Alfred's words that trait had apparently not gone away as he'd gotten older. "But I was pretty persistent and I helped him in his war against his brothers. His brothers are a bunch of jerks. Well they're okay when you deal with them separately, especially Rhys, but when you get them together...jerks. There was this one crazy summer before Arthur entered high school, James was going into his last year and Rhys was going to be a junior but yeah...Mattie and I got a bunch of super soakers for our birthday that year and it was all out war that lasted between the second week in July and the end of August. Even Peter got involved though he was still really young at the time. It was so awesome!"

Gilbert chuckled softly. Alfred seemed to like that word even more then Gilbert did. Alfred glanced over at him and flushed.

"Sorry I'm babbling aren't I?" he said ducking his head. "I have a bad habit of doing that..."

"It's okay," Gilbert said with a wave of his hand. "I did ask."

"You asked me where the accent came from not for my whole life story," Alfred said glancing back up.

Gilbert shrugged his shoulders. He really didn't mind. He liked the sound of Alfred's voice.

"So how did you end up here?" he asked in the idle moment of silence after Alfred's apology. "With the classes you're taking at the level you're taking them I'm surprised you're not matriculating at MIT or something."

"Oh I got in there, and Stanford and a ton of other places," Alfred shrugged his shoulders.

"So why...here?" Gilbert said with a wave of his hand. "Don't get me wrong I love this place but why here when you could have so much more?"

"Because this is where Mattie got his kick ass full ride scholarship at," Alfred said lightly. "And it's also where Arthur is."

"You two joined at the hip or something?" Gilbert asked. He'd had little experience with twins but the way Alfred had said that comment seemed really extreme.

"My mom probably wishes I was," Alfred muttered mostly to himself. "After the accident she got really...protective. Well she was always protective I tend to be a bit of a walking disaster magnet really but after the accident she got even more protective. I guess over protective would be the best way to say it."

"Well," Gilbert said after a long moment. "I guess I can understand where she's coming from...you almost died..."

Alfred flinched and Gilbert wished he hadn't said that. Alfred still hadn't sat down and talked about the accident beyond what he had told them that first afternoon.

"Sorry..." Gilbert muttered.

"It's alright," Alfred said after a long moment and a deep breath. "It's the truth."

"Still I shouldn't have brought it up," Gilbert said with a slight frown. "Shouldn't have brought any of it up."

"You asked a question," Alfred said with a shrug. "I could have not answered it if I didn't want to."

"I suppose," Gilbert said dropping his head to the side. "So which did you want to go to?"

"MIT maybe," Alfred said looking off into the distance. "Though maybe Stanford because I have a slight obsession with San Francisco and it's only like 40 minutes from campus."

"Maybe you'll still get there," Gilbert said easily and Alfred sent him an incredulous look. "A few years from now your mom might loosen up a little and you could transfer. Or you could just decided to ignore her and go anyway. You are an adult after all."

"I don't like to worry people," Alfred said with a frown. "But...I've thought about it. Been working with my adviser to make sure the majority of my classes will transfer to just about anywhere."

"Sounds smart," Gilbert said with a nod.

"But this is a good school too," Alfred said with a shrug.

"You could certainly do a lot worse," Gilbert agreed with a nod.

"But who knows what the future will hold for me," Alfred staring into the distance again. "I've learned not to plan too far in advance. I mean I had to change everything I had planned after the accident and now...well I certainly didn't see any of this coming up and smacking me in the face so yeah...one day at a time."

Gilbert nodded and took a swallow of his soda. Alfred seemed so young sometimes and so incredibly naive but he had been through things that also made him seem old beyond his years. The more Gilbert came to know him the more confused he grew.

"So what about you?"

Gilbert glanced up at the unexpected question. Alfred is looking at him with wide expectant eyes.

"Hmm?" he asked evasively though he already knows what the question is about.

"Well," Alfred said pushing his empty plate away from him. "I told you my life story so I guess it's time for you to share yours...or something..."

Gilbert turned his head away and frowned slightly. It was the thing to do in polite company and his father had always hounded on him about always being polite. But he always did everything he could to undermine the things his father taught him. That wasn't going to change this time. He didn't want Alfred to know who he was, who is father was, that would just make things even more awkward between them.

"You done?" he asked sharply. At Alfred's flinch he sighed and waved his hand over Alfred's side of the table. "You done eating?" he asked in a much softer tone. It wasn't Alfred's fault he'd hit a sore spot. He didn't know where Gilbert's sore spots were yet.

"Yeah," Alfred answered sounding a bit tense.

"Then let's get going shall we?" Gilbert asked lightly. "We have a lot of stuff to get for you and I have to get the truck back to Steve before he goes in to work tonight."

Gilbert had borrowed one of their neighbor's, a wild crazy man who lived in down the street from then in an apartment over the pest control business he owned and ran, beat up work truck to haul Alfred's stuff back from IKEA. He was using it as an excuse but he did need to get the truck back as soon as possible. If only because he hated being seen in the beat up piece of crap. He'd spent most of the afternoon worried that Alfred might fall through the rusted hole in the floor of the passenger side of the truck.

"Define what a lot of stuff is..." Alfred said in a worried tone as he grabbed the stuff off the table and dumped the garbage in the garbage can and bounced over to where Gilbert was waiting. "I really don't need that much stuff from here..."

"Alfred!" Gilbert snapped in exasperation. "You're getting what you need and that's final!"

Alfred opened his mouth to argue and Gilbert pinned him with the deathiest death glare he could manage. Alfred snapped his mouth shut and huffed softly. Gilbert watched him suspiciously for a few moments.

"Do you think they have a king sized race car bed?" Alfred said after a moment a huge smug smile splitting his face. He must have been trying to come up with the most outlandish outrageous thing he could think of. "I've always wanted one of those."

"Well then let's go see what we can do about that," Gilbert said his own smug smile not letting him win the way he wanted to as Alfred rolled his eyes and huffed again.

They headed out into the store. Alfred still babbling about the stupid race car bed he in no way actually wanted. Gilbert knew he was being ridiculous on purpose but he was happy to let him have his moment. It was a relief that he had let his question about Gilbert's life die so quickly. Perhaps the boy wasn't as oblivious as he sometimes seemed. He watched Alfred bounce onto the escalator to the second level and couldn't help but smile back as the younger boy sent a beaming grin in his direction. He felt his heart skitter slightly as Alfred's blue eyes sparkled even more at that.

If he hadn't been so distracted by those eyes he might have realized then that he was in trouble.

* * *

James = Scotland

Rhys = Wales

Gilbert's father is Germania I don't have anything specifically planned but I'm sure he'll show up again.

Steve = Australia. Not sure if he'll show up again.


	10. I Kissed a Boy (Part 10)

I Kissed a Boy (Part 10)

Warning for language (aka Alfred's mouth).

* * *

Alfred dumped the helmet back into the cargo hold and shouldered his heavy book bag and waved at Antonio as he headed back towards campus. Alfred always felt bad that Antonio had to follow him around on Thursday mornings, then drag him home and then had to turn around and rush back to campus for his afternoon classes. But Francis had classes all day on Thursdays and Gilbert was usually busy working on finishing up some project at home all day that would be due the next day. That left Antonio the most logical choice for babysitting duty apparently. He didn't seem to mind it though. Something about all the here to unknown pretty girls in the science department to keep him occupied.

Alfred sighed and trudged towards the apartment. He hoped they could drop this whole misadventure soon. There had been very little activity on the frat boy front over the past week but Gilbert said not to take anything lightly. They were still out there they were just being more sneaky about it. He glanced nervously around the neighborhood and wondered if they had tracked him here. Even if they didn't he still didn't feel completely safe. He always expected someone to shoot at him or something. Probably he should have the others introduce him to their neighbors soon. At least he would be able to put a face to who was shooting at him.

As he passed by the entrance to the flower shop the door swung open. The door had a tiny bell on it that jingled lightly in the afternoon air. Alfred stumbled and stared at the door with wide eyes. The entire few weeks he'd lived here he'd never actually seen anyone enter or exit the shop. He gaped in surprise at the man who stepped out of the building now with a cigarette in his hands.

He was monstrously tall with shaggy hair and a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck despite the fact that it wasn't that cold. He was also wearing what looked like a thick jacket. An awful lot of clothes for simply stepping out to get a smoke. In his shock Alfred lingered too long and the man's eyes swung to pin him a hard stare. Alfred recognized them as the eyes that had peered out at him from the basement apartment on his first night here. He shivered and remembered how Antonio had hurried him along that night.

He now understood why. He immediately wanted as little to do with this man as humanly possible.

He shivered and took a quick turn to head around the side of the building towards the stairs that led to the apartment. He heard foot falls behind him. He swallowed and forced himself not to look back. The man's apartment lay in the same direction. Maybe he was just going home for his break or something. As his foot landed on the bottom step a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. He couldn't help a small yelp squeak out of his mouth. His shoulders were always stiff and sore and the man's hand was heavy. Taking a calming breath he turned to look behind him.

"You are the new tenant upstairs?" the man asked in a voice thick with a heavy accent.

"Uhm...yes...I guess..." Alfred said swallowing thickly and taking a quick step up to the next step.

"You guess?" the man questioned with a raised brow. "You do not know if you are living here now?"

"I mean..." Alfred said slipping up yet another stair bringing him taller then the other man for half a second before the man followed him up a step. "Yes...yes I am staying there...now..."

"You are not on the lease," the man said stepping up another step.

"Oh I..." Alfred swallowed hard wondering if he was about to get kicked out and mentally trying to figure out where he'd go if he was. "I didn't know there...was a lease..." he said lamely as he backed up two more steps. A quick glance behind him showed he was almost to the top. He knew Gilbert was inside so maybe he could take care of this problem before he could get thrown out.

"I own this building," the man said a little coldly. "I am the landlord of this apartment I rent it out to the other three and they are all on the lease. I take my duty very seriously. You would not like me to not take it seriously would you?"

"Uhm..." Alfred blinked in confusion. Maybe there was some sort of language barrier going on in this conversation because Alfred suddenly felt like they were having two very different conversations. "Of course you should do your job," he reassured the man quickly. "I just didn't know about a lease is all..."

He finally stumbled up onto the landing next to the door. He still didn't have a key, and at the moment he wasn't sure he wanted one if this beast was living downstairs, so he pressed his finger against the door buzzer. And since he was really in a hurry to get inside he mashed the button repeatedly as he pressed his back up against the door.

"I tell you what...Gilbert is right inside...I'll go and talk to him and we can get this cleared right up!" he said with a false brightness as the man stepped up onto the landing and towered over him.

He let out a yelp, mostly of relief, as the door behind him swung open. He could feel Gilbert's breath on his neck and he instantly felt relief course through him even though Gilbert was probably no match for the beast in front of them.

"What the hell man," Gilbert ground out. "I heard you the first time! There's no need to...oh..."

He trailed off as Alfred shifted slightly to the side so that Gilbert could get a good look at what was in front of him. A glance over his shoulder showed Gilbert grimacing slightly before steeling his face into it's normally impassive state.

"Hello, Ivan," he said in a tight voice.

"Good afternoon, Gilbert," the man, apparently Ivan, said with a bright smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I was introducing myself to your friend."

Alfred swallowed and took a step backwards pressing himself up against Gilbert. Gilbert seeming to take the hint wrapped an hand around Alfred's arm and and pulled him backwards into the apartment. Then he stepped forward and placed himself between the two men.

"Ivan, Alfred Jones," he said waving his hand. "Alfred this is Ivan Braginski, he runs the flower shop downstairs."

"And I own the building," Ivan said with a frown. "And this apartment."

"Yeah...that too," Gilbert said tightly.

"Your new little friend here was telling me how he lives here in this apartment now," Ivan said with a slight quirk of his lips. "But yet he is not on the lease."

"I...I didn't know there was a lease!" Alfred insisted quietly feeling a bit braver now that he was in the apartment.

"Yes you have said that repeatedly. "I am not deaf," Ivan said darkly.

"I didn't say you were!" Alfred said with a huff wondering how he had gotten off on such a wrong foot with this guy.

"I have told you," Ivan said in a patient condescending tone. "Now I am telling Gilbert. If you want him to stay he needs to be on the lease by the end of the week."

"Yeah, yeah," Gilbert said with roll of his eyes. "We'll get it done."

"You do not understand me Gilbert," Ivan said lowering his voice to something just about a whisper. It was scarier then if he was yelling. "I have insurance on this building it will not cover him if he is not on the lease. I will not be able to offer him protection if he is not on the lease."

Gilbert sobered and nodded his head. Once again Alfred felt like he was missing a major part of the conversation.

"I will talk it over with Francis and Antonio this evening when they get home and we will come down and get him added to the lease as soon as possible," Gilbert reassured him.

"Good, good!" Ivan said brightly his entire face changing to sunny childishness. "I am so please we will get this worked out quickly. I look forward to seeing you soon Alfred."

"It was...ah...nice meeting you..." Alfred said as politely as he could manage. He winced at how phoney it sounded.

"Bye," Gilbert said shortly and slammed the door in Ivan's face.

Alfred swore he heard quickly on the other side of the door as he swung his eyes back around to stare wide-eyed and Gilbert. "What the fuck was that?"

"That...was...Ivan..." Gilbert said with a smirk patting him on the shoulder. "I suppose I should have warned you a little bit better about him."

"You think?" Alfred said sharply. "Who the hell is he and where did he come from some top secret former Soviet research facility? He's a beast!"

"He claims he comes from Saint Petersburg so I don't know anything about a top secret former Soviet research facility but...that wouldn't surprise me. He came over after the communist system fell over there I don't know how old he is now so I don't know how old he was then. He's got two sisters who share the downstairs apartment and help him run the shop. Kat is really sweet but stay away from Natalya she's scarier then he is..."

"There's someone scarier then him?" Alfred squawked in shock. "How is that possible?"

"She's got a short temper," Gilbert explained with a shrug. "Ivan tends to be a slow boil but don't ever be around him when he's boiling over the edge...it's rather horrifying."

"Great," Alfred said with a weary sigh as he went to throw himself down on the couch with a groan. "Just great. Is there anything else you'd like to share with me?"

"Well there's a pretty strong possibility that Ivan is a high level operative for the Russian mob and this building is a front for some of their illegal activities."

Alfred jerked back up to his feet and gaped at Gilbert in open shock hoping against hope that the other boy was just giving him a hard time again. Gilbert was staring back at him with stone faced seriousness. "The fuck!"

"There's also the strong possibility that he's just some slightly unhinged guy that fled to the US from post Soviet Russia and decided to open a flower shop in a shit hole part of a crappy town and that he's just acting suspicious because he gets off on it."

"So what you're saying is that you don't actually know for sure if your landlord is a mob guy that has you under his protection or is just a raving lunatic with delusions of grandeur?" Alfred snapped out in exasperation.

"That's pretty much what I'm saying," Gilbert said with a nod and a smirky quirk of his lips. "I mean it's not like we can just stroll up to him and say 'hey dude is this a front for the mob?' Those are the kind of questions that get you shot in the back of your head at 2am in the morning which I'd kind of like to avoid."

"You don't fucking say!" Alfred snapped again and threw himself back onto the couch this time face first. "And you thought bringing me here instead of leaving me in the dorms was the safer option?"

"Think of it this way, kid," Gilbert said with a chuckle. "No one in their right mind is going to mess with Braginski regardless of if he's a mob guy or not. As you said the man is a beast and he does keep a watchful eye on the neighborhood. You're safe here. And if your name is on the lease Ivan will make sure you stay that way."

"Safe living in a building that might or might not be a front for the Russian mob!" Alfred said sharply. "Don't mobs have mob wars and stuff?"

Gilbert shrugged his shoulders. "If the mob does control it they intend to keep it completely under lock and key. There has been no blatant mob activity here in the past two years there has also been no regular gang activity, drug activity, or prostitution the corners. People are a little gun happy around here but that's mostly just because Vash was here first and he's more than a little gun happy. You can check the records there hasn't been a murder in this neighborhood since Ivan took over this building. This is the safest neighborhood in town other then the ritzy ritzy places. I wouldn't let you stay here if it wasn't safe."

"Oh," Alfred said deflating a little at the bare truth in Gilbert's voice. He frowned and lowered his voice to mutter an apology. "Sorry."

"You're smart to worry," Gilbert said with another shrug. "It proves you're finally starting to grow some street sense."

Alfred glared and him and then rolled over onto his back and then stared up at the ceiling. "If I sign my name on the lease does that mean I'm controlled by them?"

"Of course not, it's just an apartment lease!" Gilbert huffed at him with a roll of his eyes.

"Are you absolutely sure of that?" Alfred countered. "Who knows what sort of mob double talk he put in that thing!"

Gilbert snorted and waved his hand. "The other non-teacher black sheep in Antonio's family, his cousin, is a lawyer we had him look over it to make sure there was no mob double talk in it. But...if it will make you feel better we can have him look over it again before you have to sign it."

"Thank you," Alfred said with a sign of relief.

"Just a word of warning before you meet ol' Ned is that he's a bit...intense...and angry," Gilbert said. "Like all the time. But maybe that's just from having to put up with Antonio in close proximity his entire life. I know that would make me angry and he's one of my best friends. Just...don't call him by his full name even if Antonio does it will piss him off and if he brings brownies with him don't under any circumstances engulf them."

"Why not?" Alfred said with a pout. He liked brownies. He didn't like it when brownies were kept from him.

"You eat them you will end up high as a kite," Gilbert said. Alfred stared at him blankly still having no idea what he was talking out. He sighed softly in exasperation. "They're pot brownies. It's sort of his specialty."

"Oh!" Alfred said and felt completely foolish for not getting it. "I've never gotten high from pot before..." he said thoughtfully thinking of all the drugs that had been forced on him over the years by doctors and the reactions he'd had to them. "I've had my share of pharmaceutical highs though let me tell you. I wonder how pot would compare..." he mused curiously.

"No!" Gilbert snapped shortly. "Don't even think about!"

"But!" Alfred whined. He was a grown adult he could make his own decisions.

"No way," Gilbert growled at him. "Arthur would kill me if I let you get high."

"Oh please," Alfred said with a snort. "Like he hasn't smoked pot loads of time over the years...if not done worse."

Gilbert paused as if to ponder the point and then shrugged his shoulders "Then your brother would definitely kill me if he found out!"

"You clearly know nothing about my brother," Alfred said with an even bigger snort. "He's the biggest pothead I know! I'm the good one in the family by far! Well except maybe Peter but he's like ten and doesn't count."

Gilbert stared at him for a long moment and huffed. "Doesn't matter. You won't be eating those brownies on my watch. I will not be responsible for corrupting a minor!"

"I'm 18 years old! I'm not a minor!" Alfred said with a disgruntled huff. He was so tired of people treating him like a little kid all the time. He was an adult! Even if he didn't really look like it or act like it a majority of the time.

"Close enough," Gilbert scoffed.

Alfred saw red and sent his most intimidating glare Gilbert's way. From the way the other boy continued to smirk at him it apparently wasn't intimidating enough. He'd have to talk to Mattie or Arthur see if they could teach him how it was done properly. They might even do it...once they stopped laughing at him.

"Yeah well..." Alfred said huffily. "If you didn't want to corrupt me then you shouldn't have kissed me, threw me onto the back of your motorcycle and whisked me away to your apartment on top of a building owned by a crazy potential Russian mob guy, with a next door neighbor who shoots at anything that moves and lord knows what other insanity is roaming just around a corner!"

Gilbert's smirk turned to a disgruntled glare of his own. He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut again to glare with even more intensity. He certainly didn't need any working in the intimidating department.

"Do your homework."

"You're not the boss of me!" Alfred snapped back without thinking.

He instantly felt like a huge idiot and ducked his head. So much for not being childish. He wasn't surprised when Gilbert started laughing at him. A deep belly laugh that made Alfred feel a little warm inside.

"Look," Gilbert said with laughter in his voice. "As much fun as arguing with you is I have a huge project that needs to be done and I'm sure you've got about twenty things that need to be done by tomorrow. So I'm going to go get my work done and you can get your stuff done and then I'm going to come back here and kick your ass verbally some more."

"I'd like to see you try!" Alfred said intensely. A rush of strange excitement trailing down his spine as Gilbert's smirk turned to an almost fond smile.

"Don't worry," Gilbert drawled playfully, reaching out to flick Alfred's nose, sending another trail of something down Alfred's spine. "I will!"

Then with a slight wave of his hand he turned and left the room quickly probably because he knew that Alfred was gearing up to lob another argument his way. Alfred stared after him for a long moment and then drew himself to a sitting position with a chuckle. Then he reached for his backpack and started pulling his stuff out of it. The sooner he got started the sooner he'd be done.

He was definitely looking forward to later.

* * *

TBC

* * *

Notes:

-I am far too amused with Ivan in this. As always my Russia muse threatens to run away with things so his presence will probably be extremely limited because I can't trust him.

-Ned is of course Netherlands. His first name is Edwin (which is indeed a Dutch name) so you can see why he prefers to go by a nickname. Ned is oftentimes used as a nickname for names that start with "Ed" such as Edward or if you're a fan of Game of Thrones Eddard. Being able to use it was the sole reason I chose Edwin for his name, I'm far to used to calling him Ned to think of him as anything else lol. Not sure if he and his infamous brownies will appear in the story. They might...they might not.


End file.
